Revealed: How man found mummified in diving suit after 13 years saved life of friend who had to leave him behind in desperate fight for survival 220ft under Lake Michigan
- Businessman Dirk Kann, 52, disappeared on a dive on September 4, 1999
- Was out on photography dive with friends Greg Olsen and Richard Boyd
- Three men had spent the last decade diving together, visiting the Lakeland shipwreck over 20 times
- Mr Olsen's air supply was compromised during dive and Mr Kann gave him his own, saving Mr Olsen's life
- Then, Mr Kann had trouble surfacing and became unresponsive before disappearing
- More than a decade later, divers found his body some 200ft deep in Lake Michigan, still in his scuba gear
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The body of a diver missing for more than a decade has been found in the cold waters of Lake Michigan, where he drowned after he saved his friend's life.
Dirk Kann of Guttenberg, Iowa, disappeared in September 1999 while exploring a popular and extremely dangerous shipwreck, the legendary Lakeland, 225ft below the surface with his trusted diving partner Greg Olsen before tragedy struck.
After Mr Olsen's air supply was depleted at the bottom of the lake, there was a frantic fight for survival as the two men shared a single tank, alternating breathes and desperately clinging to their diving line as they ascended toward the surface.
Mr Kann never made it and the 52-year-old's remains were found in Whitefish Bay on Saturday, the Door County Sheriff's Department confirmed, still in his dive suit and with air tanks connected to him.
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Found: Dirk Kann of Guttenberg, Iowa, disappeared in September 1999 after trying to explore a popular shipwreck 225ft below the surface. He is pictured at right beside his daughter Susan
Tragedy: The 52-year-old's remains were found in Whitefish Bay on Saturday near the Lakeland, pictured, an iron steamer loaded with new cars lost off Sturgeon Bay in 1924
'He still had his diving gear on, in fact,' Sheriff Terry Vogel said.
Sheriff Vogel said that two experienced divers found the remains while also exploring the wreck of a boat called the Lakeland.
Rose Kann, the wife of Mr Kann, spoke exclusively to the MailOnline about the news of her husband's discovery.
She said that 'of course' the news was a great relief to the family, adding that they did not plan any memorial or service to commemorate Mr Kann.
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Officials say Mr Kann disappeared while diving with friends on September 4, 1999 and was last seen by his dive partner, Greg Olsen, a 49-year-old man from nearby Appleton.
Police reports from the incident show that Mr Olsen, Mr Kann and their friend Richard Boyd were on a diving trip on Mr Olsen's ship named the Navy Boat.
All three men were close friends and diving companions for more than a decade.
They told police that the three of them had been visiting the Lakeland for more than five years and explored it more than 20 times together.
Using a permanent line connecting the Navy Boat with the Lakeland, Mr Olsen and Mr Kann proceeded to head down for a photographic expedition of the wreck they had come to know over the years.
Mr Boyd had planned on joining his friends, but was delayed and stayed behind.
Both divers had three air supplies: a primary regulator, a secondary regulator or 'octopus' and a pony bottle.
Mystery: Mr Kann was a celebrated businessman and inventor before he disappeared
'They knew what they were doing and they had the equipment to do it,' an officer wrote in his report.
The descent to the wreck was 'uneventful,' Mr Olson told police. The pair toured the bow of the ship and visited the part where the ship was broken in half. The two of them were making their way back to the mooring line when Mr Olson's air regulator began to 'free flow.'
When air regulators free flow, or freeze up, during dives, the tanks deliver air constantly, causing a diver's air supply to be depleted in a matter of minutes.
Mr Olsen signaled Mr Kann for help, but Mr Kann accidentally turned off Mr Olsen's secondary air supply, leaving Mr Olsen's primary air supply to deplete entirely.
A frantic Mr Olsen hooked himself up to his smallest container of air and the two men headed toward the surface.
'Both divers now had an emergency situation and they aborted their dive and made a hard swim for the bow of the Lakeland to the ascent line,' the police report reads.
The two grabbed hold of the line facing each other and made their way toward the surface hand-over-hand.
Search: Two experienced divers found the remains while also exploring the wreck Lakeland
Three-quarters of the way up, Mr Olsen's tank was empty. Mr Kann gave him his own secondary air supply and the two men continued upward.
The situation under control, Mr Kann went to release the stringer line because, according to Mr Olsen 'they had beat the dive.'
A moment later, Mr Kann was in trouble.
THE LEGEND OF THE LAKELAND
The Lakeland was a 2,425-ton iron steamer built by the Pittsburgh Steamship Company in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1887 as the Cambria.
She was renamed the Lakeland on May 24, 1910, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
On December 3, 1924, after departing Sturgeon Bay, she began taking on water and sank in 210 feet of water six miles east of the canal entrance with a cargo of Nash, Kissel, and Reynolds automobiles.
Today, she lies upright and largely intact with many of her automobiles intact in her hold.
Experienced divers flock to the wreck site to explore the vessel, though it is considered a highly technical and dangerous dive.
'When Greg turned around, Dirk was right on him. Greg stated Dirk did not have his regulator in his mouth... Dirk was bumping into his chest, chest-to-chest, eyeball-to-eyeball,' the report read. 'Dirk's eyes were wide and big.'
Mr Olsen gave Mr Kann his own air supply and the two began to 'buddy breath' back and forth, but eventually, Mr Kann became completely incapacitated.
'He was like fading away,' the report said.
Mr Olsen said he had two options at this point.
Completely out of air and holding his breath, he could rip the regulator out of his friend's mouth and continue his own ascent, or leave his friend with the air and make his way toward the surface.
He chose the second option. On his way up, he kept looking back for Mr Kann, hoping he would appear behind him, but he never came up.
Bottles for decompression and emergency air, tied to the point in the line where Mr Kann was last seen, were all that remained of him.
Mr Boyd and Mr Olsen said that there was till 2,600 psi, out of a possible 3,000 psi in the tanks.
They continued to search for their friend until the U.S. Coast Guard arrived.
The Coast Guard and local law enforcement mounted an exhaustive search of the area following his disappearance, utilizing a helicopter, 41-foot patrol boat and numerous fishing vessels to assist.
Once the interview was completed, the two men asked for permission to return to the water to find their missing friend and to tell their wives of the incident.
Two days later, the search was called off, having only located Mr Kann's wallet, his open water diver certification and his wreck diver certification.
'There was a death investigation, I wouldn't call it a homicide investigation,' Sheriff Vogel said to the MailOnline. 'There were no suspicious circumstances.'
The sheriff added that a few years ago, Mr Kann's body was found by a local fisherman.
'Six, seven years ago he was snagged by a fisherman, but he was released,' he said. 'Somehow they lost the snag. We did another search for the body but couldn't find him.'
Sheriff Vogel said that each time, his office notifies the Kann family of the body's appearance.
Mr Kann was a celebrated businessman and inventor before he passed. He founded a recumbent bicycle company, Linear Mfg. in Iowa during the 1980s.
He also ran Kann Mfg, which was founded by his father, which manufactures garbage trucks, marine boats and barges. His son and daughter both still work at the family company.
Mummy: Mr Kann was found perfectly intact, more than a decade after his disappearance
'We made numerous attempts through the years to try to recover him with technological advancements,' Sheriff Vogel said. 'We used some of that to go down there, but his remains weren't found until Saturday.'
Authorities say Mr Kann's body was recovered near the wreck which sits about seven miles east of the Sturgeon Bay canal in more than 200ft of water.
It's unique because the original cargo of early 20th century cars is still visible. That makes it a popular diving destination, but only for experienced divers.
'That particular shipwreck is what we call a technical dive,' explained diver and owner of Green Bay Scuba Alan Pahnke.
'When it's so deep, you need much more training to go down there than a normal sport diver would.'
Mr Pahnke told Fox 11 Online that the water temperature at that depth is around 2.2C (36F). He said the conditions would preserve a body for a long time.
'Because of the pressure and the depth it's at, there's not a long of oxygen down there,' Mr Pahnke said. 'Plus the cold, it's like a refrigerator, it'll keep for quite a while.'
The sheriff's department did not release the exact condition of the body, but reports show that Mr Kann was identified in part by the fact that he had two fingers amputated.
A flashlight with the name 'Dirk Kann' was also found on his person.
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