Michigan Diver’s Body Found 13 Years After Going Missing, Perfectly Preserved In His Dive Suit
Door County, MI – The body of a diver reported missing 13 years ago in Lake Michigan was found still inside his wet suit, his body perfectly preserved. Dirk Kann disappeared in September 1991 while exploring the Lakeland shipwreck site, approximately 225-feet below the surface. The Lakeland shipwreck site in Lake Michigan is reportedly as popular as it is dangerous.
Dirk Kann’s remains were discovered along Whitefish Bay on Saturday, according to reports from the Door County Sheriff’s Office republished by the Daily Mail. The Lakeland shipwreck occurred in 1925. The iron steamer was traveling loaded with a cargo of new cars when it sank in Lake Michigan. The Lakeland’s original cargo is still visible to Lake Michigan shipwreck divers. Dirk Kann was a successful businessman and inventor. In the 1980s he founded a recumbent bicycle company, Linear Manufacturing, in Iowa. Kann, 52, was from Guttenberg, Iowa.
Two divers found Dirk Kann’s preserved body while exploring the Lakeland shipwreck. Rose Kann, the diver’s widow, told the Daily Mail that the discovery of her husband’s body was a “great relief” to the family. Dirk Kann and his diving partner, a 49-year-old man, were reportedly having trouble while attempting to leave the bottom of the lake to reach the surface, the Door County Advocate reports. Kann was last seen decompressing at the 80-foot dive line mark. Kann’s Lake Michigan Lakeland shipwreck diving partner moved onto the 40-foot dive line mark to decompress again before swimming to the surface, Fox News 11 notes.
A 60-year-old third diver tugged on Dirk Kann’s dive line without response. Decompression bottles were all that were attached to the dive line when it was pulled to the surface of Lake Michigan. Inclement weather conditions reportedly prohibited the two surviving divers from going back into the water to search for Kann. Several years ago Dirk Kann’s body was believed to have been caught by a fisherman, but the snag was lost and the body sunk back into the water.
In addition to the initial search near the Lakeland shipwreck for Dirk Kann’s body, more recent searches were conducted as well. When technological advances aiding in deep-diving location offered renewed hope of finding the body, the Lakeland shipwreck site was searched more thoroughly. The extremely cold waters which surround the Lakeland shipwreck in Lake Michigan are credited with preserving Dirk Kann’s body.
Diver found in Lake Michigan identified
