PAPEETE, Tahiti -- Investigators in French Polynesia have gathered most of the clues they expect to find about the disappearances of former NBA player Bison Dele and two sailing companions.

Nearly three months after the three vanished, Tahiti investigators have pieced together the group's sailing itinerary. They have also finished interviews of hotel employees, tour operators and everyone else who met the tourists as they relaxed at tranquil island resorts, investigating judge Jean-Bernard Taliercio said Monday.

They spent weeks combing Dele's sailboat in fine detail, collecting what they believe are samples of blood and other signs of a struggle that likely ended in the passengers' deaths. Only one person survived the voyage -- Dele's brother Miles Dabord, whom French authorities have implicated in the deaths.

But investigators will never get a chance to question Dabord, who died in a California hospital this week. Two months after leaving French Polynesia, he was found in a coma after overdosing on insulin and failing to treat his asthma, his mother says. He was removed from life support Thursday and died a day later.

In Tahiti, Dele's luxury catamaran is still docked at port, surrounded by yellow police tape. Investigators were expected to lift the vessel from the water soon and bring it to a safer place, away from thieves and the curious, the judge said.

Police say it could take 1½ years to finish the investigation. The blood samples have yet to be analyzed.

The focus has shifted to the United States, where the investigation is in the FBI's hands. More clues could come from documents Dabord left with a lawyer, to be opened after his death, Taliercio said. The FBI also wants to question a woman in Australia who spoke to Dabord by telephone shortly after his companions disappeared, he said.

Pending clearance, French investigators will travel to the United States in October to question people who spoke with Dabord.

Investigators don't know what went wrong on Dele's boat, the ''Hakuna Matata'' -- Swahili for ''no worries.'' One person who spent time with Dabord after the disappearances, his former girlfriend Erica Weise, says he told her of a struggle on board that left his companions dead. She says Dabord acted in self-defense.

French investigators are treating the account with caution, Taliercio said.

Police in Tahiti believe a struggle took place on board when the boat was near the tiny, remote island of Maiao. Waters there are deep, and investigators have given up hope of finding the bodies, which they believe were tossed overboard.

Dele changed his name from Brian Williams to honor his Native American heritage. He played for several teams in the NBA, including the Denver Nuggets and the Chicago Bulls' 1996-97 championship team, and walked away from a $35 million contract with the Detroit Pistons in 1999.

After retiring from basketball, Dele planned a sailing trip from New Zealand to Hawaii. He asked his brother, his girlfriend Serena Karlan and a skipper, Bertrand Saldo, to join him for part of the journey. Like Dele, Karlan and Saldo are missing and presumed dead.

Dabord, who used to be called Kevin Williams, was not charged in the United States in the disappearances. He was arrested on another charge -- trying to pass himself off as his younger brother.

Dabord aroused suspicion when he signed his brother's name to try to buy gold in Arizona. Dabord was questioned, but authorities released him and he went to Mexico.

It was there that Dabord was found in a coma. He was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in Chula Vista, Calif., and investigators confirmed his identity from fingerprints. Dabord was placed under arrest while unconscious. He didn't live to tell his side of the story.