Middletown Man Recently Rescued at Sea Was Suspect in Grandfather's Death: Report

MIDDLETOWN, CT— A man recently rescued at sea after being missing for a week is a suspect in his grandfather's death, according to published media reports.

Middletown native Nathan Carman, 22, was found alive on a life raft on Sunday and touched ground in Boston on Tuesday morning.

Windsor police submitted a murder arrest warrant to a prosecutor in July 2014, but the warrant was returned unsigned, according to the Hartford Courant. John Chakalos, 87, was found dead in his home with a gunshot wound to the head and torso in December 2013. Carman is the last known person to see Chakalos alive.

Prosecutors wanted more information and Carman wasn't charged. The case remains open.

Chakalos' estate was worth about $40 million.

A Windsor detective was demoted to officer after he was found to be withholding information in the case from co-investigators, according to Fox 61. The delay may have cost the department its chance to get evidence such as surveillance video that can be deleted after a few days.

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His mother, 54-year-old Linda Carman, of Middletown, still hasn’t been found and is presumed dead, according to officials. The Coast Guard won't resume the search for her.

"The likelihood of her being alive is minimal," Coast Guard officer Nicole Groll said during a news conference Monday.

Carman was picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday morning after traveling with the “Orient Lucky” freighter that spotted him on Sunday afternoon about 100 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.

Until Nathan was found on Sunday, Linda and Nathan hadn’t been seen since they left Ram's Point Marina in Point Judith on Sept. 18 for a fishing trip on a 31-foot aluminum center console boat, the Chicken Pox.

The Coast Guard suspended the six-day search for the pair on Friday after “exhausting all search efforts.”

Nathan Carman recounted the incident for Coast Guard officials during a phone call Monday.

"He said that the ship was taking on water," Groll said. "He got the life raft. He looked for his mom ... (but) couldn't find her and that was it."

The boat sank off the coast of New York, according to Groll.

In talking to the media on Tuesday evening, Nathan Carman thanked the public for their "prayers and concern."