E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSThe well-preserved body of diver Dirk C. Kann, missing in Lake Michigan since 1999, has finally been recovered after several sightings over the years, Wisconsin officials say.
Kann, of Guttenberg, Iowa, was 52 when he went diving with two other men at the wreck of the Lakeland, a steamer that sank with a load of still-visible cars in 1924 off Algoma, Wis., about 125 miles northeast of Milwaukee. The shipwreck is a popular destination for divers.
Kann’s body was in Whitefish Bay, a mile east of Whitefish Point in the town of Sevastopol, about 20 miles north of Algoma, officials said.
Watch US News videos on NBCNews.com
Two divers found the body Saturday 200 feet below the surface, officials said.
Kann was still in his wetsuit, Door County Sheriff Terry Vogel told The Door County Advocate newspaper.
He was positively identified Monday during an autopsy in Green Bay.
Kann’s widow, Rose Kann, told the Daily Mail the family felt great relief the body was found but that no memorials were planned.
The Advocate reported that Kann and a dive partner experienced problems while surfacing in 175 feet of water on Sept. 4, 1999.
Kann was last seen when he stopped at the 80-foot mark on a dive line to decompress – a requirement in deep dives to prevent the buildup of harmful nitrogen bubbles in the blood. The partner decompressed at the 40-foot mark. He and a third dive partner, who remained on a boat on the lake’s surface, pulled on the dive line but Kann was not there, according to Advocate reports at the time.
Bottles for decompression and emergency air remained on the line where Kann was last seen.
A search was called off after two days.
Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter
In July 2002 divers found a body believed to be Kann, but weather and equipment problems prevented the body’s recovery, the Advocate reported.
Six or seven years ago, Kann’s body was snagged by a fisherman but was lost, Vogel told Wisconsin media.
Besides being an avid scuba diver, Kann founded a recumbent bicycle company, Linear Mfg., in Iowa in the mid-1980s and it was later sold, according to an online company history.
Kann Mfg., started by his father, manufactures marine boats, barges and garbage trucks in Guttenberg.
A son and daughter work at Kann but they declined comment, The Advocate said.
In 2011, the body of diver Christopher Windecker was recovered from the frigid waters of Lake Tahoe 17 years after he disappeared in the mountain lake straddling the California-Nevada border.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- Monument to Civil War general, Ku Klux Klan leader triggers controversy
- Scalia: Judges should interpret words, not intent
- Nearly two-thirds of Americans can't name a single Supreme Court justice
- Air Force rules limit size of tattoos, role of gospel
- Mystery Michigan Powerball winner contacts lottery officials
- Did two women killed by train derailment contribute to crash?
Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
Rest in peace Mr. Kann. To the family, condolences & hopefully some closure since he has been recovered. May God give you all peace.
No one ever is clear about which god they're talking about. I mean there are probably hundreds of gods in the land of make believe - you have to tell us which one
To "That's What's Up" comment above alluding to "gods". I stop short of branding you a complete moron because your comments make no sense.
How was it preserved??? How cold is it down at 200ft? This article raises questions but I'm getting used to that around here
It's cold at the bottom of Lake Michigan, and with very low oxygen levels in the water at depth, there is little to no microorganism activity that would normally aid in the natural decay process.
The deeper you are the colder it is, and the Great Lakes are generally pretty cold even on the surface. Second, he was still in this wetsuit. They would have probably prevented fish from eating the body and held it together from disintegrating during any decomposition. It likely spent most of the last 13 years near freezing temperatures or colder.
There is an entire logging industry based on recovering timber that sank over 100 years ago from the depths of the Great Lakes. Same thing that preserves the timber, preserved the body, cold and little O2.
It's 4 degrees Celcius at the bottom of Lake Michigan.
how cold is 4 degrees Cecilius...
39.2 degrees fahrenheit
__Celsius X 1.8 + 32 = Fahrenheit
Too much detail removes the intrigue. Just enough to whet the curiosity, but undermines the legitimacy of the media outlet.
What the hell did this closing comment have to do with this man's drowning? Great journalism - open and close with relevant info.
I am glad for the family and their closure, but it's a little creepy, seems he wanted to stay put
Decade at Bernie's.
Sweet!
Why no pictures?
For reasons obvious to everyone. Except you.
Well you have to admit that it would be interesting to see what the body looked like after that. It's not morbidity but curiosity.
Yes, there is a such thing as morbid curiosity, but a brief search on the internet of rotting corpses and remains (with the safe search off) will give you a lot more than you seek; indeed, you'll probably wish you never put the image(s) in your head in the first place. So I have no problem looking away...My respect and late condolences to this man's family.
Hey Gumps, Can you EVER tell when someone is making a funny?
Maybe some things just aren't funny.
that was drop dead funny...
Water logged bodies are disgusting. I don't care how well he was preserved, he had to have been bloated. Google it if you dare.
Perhaps! Might hit Chicago as well! Weather people are just guessing and are wrong in majority of cases.
The weather is 80 degrees and balmy whether or not you like it.
Why was his dive buddy at 40 ft decompressing when he was at 80 ft.
Cardinal rule of diving. ALAWAYS dive with a partner and stay within site of each other.
cannon, tech diving has different rules. That is why we dive well below 130 feet like 2 to 3 or even 4 times deeper. His dive buddy was not at 40 feet. Another diver was at 40 feet. tech divers do not have "buddies". The diver at 40 feet was following his decompression profile based on his bottom time and depth. The guy at 80 feet who died was following his profile. It sounds like that the guy who died had a CNS hit from oxygen Toxicity and had convulsions. When he stopped convulsing he would have been unconscious, the regulator came out of his mouth and he drowned. The guy that died did not feel or know a thing. Lesson don't push the oxygen clock.
Roger-1609473, but since you weren't there you're really just guessing.
Roger might be guessing, but it's a conjecture that sounds a lot more reasonable than what was floating around the discussion board the other day when the article was about that missing lady diver in California.
CONJECTURE by an experienced person is ALWAYS worth more
than the aspersions cast by a screen lickin slug...
in case ya dint know!
Creepy.
I wonder if he had any money in his wallet
do ya want the gold teeth too...
"Kann was still in his wetsuit, Door County Sheriff Terry Vogel told The Door County Advocate newspaper."
What? You expected to find him in his Jammies?
The chance to find him preserved and yet still in his suit when most of the times any traces of clothing or non-organic material tend to 'melt away' from the currents and such. Finding a preserved body in a wet suit is quite rare as most of the time the pressure/current of the water will slowly rip pieces off.
That's true with cotton, for clothing, but artificial fibers, especially the thickly-woven kind in wetsuits, are designed to be extremely durable, current- and pressure-resistant. Organisms which will rot cotton don't like artificial fibers. Lake-bottom currents aren't usually as strong as in rivers and oceans, too.
I wonder if there is enough to determine cause of death. I wonder if his dive "partners" are nervous.
Hammer60, I imagine his dive buddy has been dealing with the "What ifs" for a long time now.
Making accusations, are we?
Way to go MSN / NBC. Whitefish Bay is in Door County. He wasn't found in the city of Whitefish Bay, but in the body of water called Whitefish Bay which is about 2-3 hours north of there. Way to do your research!
I'm confused. Was he found in Whitefish Bay (a town just north of Milwaukee) like the map shows, or is there a body of water names Whitefish Bay in Door County, which is north of Green Bay. Both could be along the lake (I know the town is). This article leaves me confused about his location!!
He was found in Door County.
anyone notice how MS/NBC is trying to hide this story and not let us comment about it;
Minnesota State Democrat Rep. Kerry Gauthier is said to have arranged sex with a 17-year-old boy at a road-side rest stop
Um, no, because I saw the story and could have commented, although I didn't.
Since the story doesn't have much to back it up, though (at least at the moment), it would be understandible if they pulled it. Publishing unsubstantiated rumors is one of the easiest ways to invite a lawsuit.
No BUT I did notice
that the RWNJ's over at FOX were so treasonous & militant
that they STRIPED ALL readers of the ability to make a comment....
that pesky old 1st amendment value's thingy only applies to the gubbermint
Corporatepeople, along with unlimited abilities to contribute to political causes
also have the right to deprive you of any of yours....
FOX = We report opinions called news
& you have no choice any longer, but to listen .
WHICH IS WHY SUDDENLY MSNBC IS OVERLOADED WITH
SCREEN LICKERS & GOP SYCHOPHANTS....
as if there is a difference !
Alright. For everyone out there that thinks that the map link on the homepage is an accurate map, be warned. MSN/NBC has the wrong Whitefish Bay, WI. I am from Wisconsin and knew something was wrong when I read that Whitefish Bay was close to Algoma. The real Whitefish Bay brough up in the article is actually in Door County...close to Algoma. The Whitefish Bay on the map is located a few minutes north of Milwaukee. Do some fact checking people. Common sense should tell you that something didn't quite add up.
Wait a minute, are you expecting journalists today to be procifient in journalism? Where have you been? Like with any other job (the few that are out there), they're expected to be "microsoft efficient" and nothing more. They need to know how to clack on a keyboard and do research via google or wikipedia. Get with the times. No money-making corporation actually wants employees that know how to do things other than let a computer program do all the work.
Jerry... you might consider yourself a perfect human but the rest of us on Planet Earth know we are not.
and you & ANDY have the SNARK PEDAL pressed to the floor, ease off it
there's no need to get so contentious over a news story that has NO effect on you or your lives,
such as they may be....
Well, after several Sightings, They can put This to REST! He Seemed to Have Been an Avid Poltergeist!
more like bigfoot
Now, THAT is a strange story!
I am happy for this family as it will give them closure and my condolences to all of the family and friends. Maybe now his body can finally be laid to rest. God Bless all who suffered with this terrible tragedy. It is not easy to lose someone in the waters and not get them back. You never really get closure for lack of being able to place the body in it's final resting place. I as a sister can tell you there are no words to describe how our family felt to lose our brother. My brother never made it back to shore while duck hunting in Lake Erie in 1970, the Lake never gave up his body.
Maybe the ducks got themselves some payback!
RIP and closure for the family.
Interesting article [finally on Yahoo]. Glad the family has some closure. But I always thought Whitefish Bay and Whitefish Point were at the east end of Lake Superior.
I was raised in Wisconsin and lived in Shorewood/Whitefish Bay area. Whitefish Bay is a village, approximately 5 miles north of downtown Milwaukee on Lake Michigan. However, if I recall correctly, the actual Whitefish Bay is located in the upper penninsula of Wisconsin, known as Door County. I guess we all should check our google map. Anway it is still Lake Michigan. I spent much of my childhood waterskiing in Lake Michigan at Door County. It is truely one of the most beautiful vacation spots. Very pristine. If you ever get a chance, go visit Mackinac Island. That vacation has stayed with me my entire lifetime.
This guy died due to very poor dive buddies.If he was having trouble ,his dive buddy had no business leaving him alone. He passed out and drown. Thanks...hope you can live with yourself .
If you are having trouble, and are surfacing along a line, you may not have enough dive capacity to go back down. Not much sense in two or three dying. For all you know, he died of a heart attack and drifted off the line. It said he had spare air.
To Buffaloes Roam -
Good call! As a nurse and an ex-scuba diver, that is exactly what I suspected, a heart attack.
If his body is well preserved, the coroner/M.E. should be able to see the evidence of a heart attack in the coronary arteries.
Whitefish Bay WI is a village along Lake Michigan 5 miles north of downtown Milwaukee.
This poor soul was found 150 miles north of the village of Whitefish Bay.
Can't believe he was almost brought up twice before and then "lost". I guess it's good he passed doing something he loved.
ya ya ya....but were the cars in good shape??!
Dynomite
My condolences to the family, to finally have the body found must be a small releif after all these years. Hopefully it may tell them how it may have happened. To the people who write the headlines; at least show the correct map location. you are only about a hundred miles off!