What is The Carman Family Deaths about? Key details from Netflix’s upcoming true crime documentary, explored

Netflix is rolling out its much-awaited true-crime documentary, The Carman Family Deaths, on November 19, 2025.

The film explores the strange disappearance of Linda Carman and the unsettling story behind her wealthy New England family. There is murder, family drama, and a pile of unanswered questions that have kept people hooked for years.

The documentary promises a close look at the investigation, but it also pulls back the curtain on the tangled relationships inside the Carman family. You will hear from cops, reporters, and relatives as they piece together a real-life mystery that has been haunting people long before Netflix picked it up.

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Netflix docu-film The Carman Family Deaths explored

The official logline reads:

“A young man’s dramatic rescue at sea spirals into accusations he murdered two members of his wealthy New England family.”

The documentary follows Nathan Carman, who survived a fishing trip that turned into a nightmare. His mother, Linda Carman, vanished during that trip and was never found. Then there is John Chakalos, Linda’s father and Nathan’s grandfather, a rich real estate developer who was murdered back in 2013.

As per Netflix’s Tudum, The Carman Family Deaths incorporates interviews with the Coast Guard, FBI agents, local police, and family members like Nathan’s dad, Linda’s ex-husband, and one of her sisters. A journalist from Wired also weighs in.

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What are the major events covered in The Carman Family Deaths?

Back in September 2016, 22-year-old Nathan and his mother, 54-year-old Linda, set out from Rhode Island for an overnight fishing trip. After that, Linda vanished. No one could reach her, and soon she was reported missing. About eight days later, a freighter spotted Nathan drifting alone in a life raft and brought him aboard.

Right away, investigators started poking holes in Nathan’s story. He had skipped basic safety steps, picked a risky route, and hadn’t sent out any distress calls. Notably, he was diagnosed with autism as a child, which led some to see him as distant or unemotional. But his version of events just didn’t add up. Ocean current experts, for example, doubted that his raft could have ended up where he said it did.

Linda’s sister told Netflix:

“He killed our sister, so yeah, we didn't want anything to do with him. This whole situation is just one big Greek tragedy.”

After being rescued, Nathan told the South Kingstown Police Department, as per GMA News:

“I knew there was water in the bilge. I knew there was a lot of water because it was already up to that level, which is why I wanted to bring the safety stuff as a precaution. But I thought I was going to find the problem and fix it.”

There’s more. Three years earlier, in December 2013, Nathan’s grandfather, John Chakalos, was shot and killed at home in Connecticut. Nathan was the last known person to see him alive. Around that time, Nathan bought a rifle that matched the murder weapon and, reportedly, destroyed his computer.

Fast forward to 2022: Nathan faced charges, including “murder on the high seas” for Linda’s disappearance, plus fraud. He pleaded not guilty. The court declared Linda Carman officially dead in 2023, even though her body was never found.

Then, on June 15, 2023, Nathan was found unresponsive in his jail cell. Officials didn’t rule the death suspicious, and with him gone, the charges were dropped. Even now, the whole story isn’t settled. Documentaries and news reports keep digging, and plenty of questions are still hanging in the air.

And now, director Yon Motskin has come up with The Carman Family Deaths documentary. It is produced by Mary-Jane Mitchell. Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady are executive producers.

The Carman Family Deaths is also produced in association with WIRED Studios. The documentary pulls from a WIRED article by Evan Lubofsky, but that’s just the starting point.

At its core, it digs into Nathan’s survival story. Can you really believe it, or is there something darker going on? Money sits at the center: this is a wealthy family, and the inheritance from Chakalos matters a lot. The film also dives into the deep split in the Carman family. You have clashing loyalties, a lot of grief, and everyone telling their own version of what happened.

Nathan’s autism diagnosis comes up again and again. It shapes how everyone, including cops, relatives, and the public, sees his actions.

The Carman Family Deaths is like a modern Greek tragedy. Netflix actually calls it that, and they are not wrong. You get this collision of family drama, big money, and mystery, all tangled together. Since Nathan died before he could go to trial, the documentary gets to pull together the investigation, old footage, and interviews, and maybe make sense of it all in a way the news never did.