Detroit, MI

Edmund Fitzgerald life ring to be auctioned in Detroit this month

Published

4 months ago

December 4, 2025

Edmund Fitzgerald life ring to be auctioned in Detroit this month

A life ring from the Edmund Fitzgerald, the famous Great Lakes freighter that was shipwrecked 50 years ago, will be auctioned in Detroit this month.

The orange life ring washed onto the Lake Superior shore after the Fitzgerald sank off the coast of Whitefish Bay on Nov. 10, 1975.

Larry Orr, who was 27 at the time, found it leaning against a tree alongside a plank from one of the Fitzgerald’s lifeboats, according to DuMouchelles, the auction house coordinating the sale. Both the life ring and plank likely came from one of the Fitzgerald’s lifeboats.

Orr took the ring and plank. Ten years later, he loaned them to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in the Upper Peninsula’s Chippewa County. He decided this year to sell the ring, DuMouchelles President Joe Walker said.

Walker said the life ring is unlike anything the auction house has sold before. It’s an artifact from arguably one of the most famous shipwrecks in the world and the most famous to take place on the Great Lakes. He said he hopes it is purchased by a museum.

“It’s just a piece of Great Lakes history,” he said.

The life ring has a history of its own. It was featured in a lawsuit Orr filed against the state in which he accused a state police officer of violating his rights during a sexual assault investigation, the Associated Press reported last month. The state had initially asked for the life ring as part of a settlement deal in which the state would give Orr $600,000. After the AP called MSP spokeswoman Shanon Banner, the life ring was removed from the deal.

The unusual almost-arrangement shows the resiliency of the Edmund Fitzgerald’s legacy in Michigan.

The ship was built at Great Lakes Engineering Works at a shipyard on the border of Ecorse and River Rouge. Thousands of people crowded around the dock to watch it launch into the Detroit River in 1958. At the time, it was the largest freighter on the lakes. It remained a notable ship until its famous end in Lake Superior.

Other artifacts from the Edmund Fitzgerald are scattered across the Great Lakes. One of the ship’s anchors, which it lost in the Detroit River before it wrecked, is outside the Detroit Historical Society’s Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Detroit’s Belle Isle park. A life raft and oars are on display at the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo.

Selling an artifact from the Fitzgerald is a rare and emotional process, Walker said. DuMouchelles is on East Jefferson Avenue near Mariners Church, so Walker grew up listening to the bells toll each November to honor the 29 men who died on the Fitzgerald and the thousands of other mariners who have died on the Great Lakes.

DuMouchelle’s wouldn’t have auctioned the ring if it had been removed from the wreck site, Walker said, but the ring was legally acquired and Orr is selling out of financial necessity.

“It’s a mixed bag for us, emotionally, to be honest with you,” Walker said. “A lot of what we do is (for) people experiencing emotional, physical, economic hardship, right? And this is one of those cases.”

The life ring will be on display for public viewing at DuMouchelles on East Jefferson Avenue on Dec. 12, 13, 16 and 17. The auction is scheduled for Dec. 19. The starting bid is $11,250.

ckthompson@detroitnews.com

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Detroit, MI

Retired Detroit sergeant faces new sexual assault charge involving 14-year-old victim from 2002

Published

30 minutes ago

March 27, 2026

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Retired Detroit sergeant faces new sexual assault charge involving 14-year-old victim from 2002

Updated on: March 27, 2026 / 12:23 PM EDT
/ CBS Detroit

An additional case, this one involving a victim who was then 14 years old, has been added to the sexual assault investigation against a former Detroit Police Department sergeant.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced the latest charges on Friday against Benjamin Martin Wagner, 68, who now lives in Greenville, N.C. He had retired from the Detroit Police Department in 2017.

The victim in the additional charges was 14 years old when the assault happened in October 2002 in Detroit, Worthy said. The prosecutor alleges that Wagner approached the victim, pointed a handgun at her, ordered her away from the location and then sexually assaulted her.

In this case, he faces charges of kidnapping, two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. An arraignment hearing took place Friday in the 36th District Court in Detroit. A probable cause conference is scheduled for April 7.

The woman is now 37 years old.

“She has lived with what happened to her for 23 years and has now bravely decided that she wants to be a part of holding him accountable,” Worthy said.

Wagner participated in a court hearing Thursday and was remanded to jail, one week after he was charged with 15 counts of kidnapping and rape in five separate sexual assault cases. All of those incidents happened between 1999 and 2003 in the northwest side of Detroit, with the victims being young women between the ages of 15 and 23.

The court dates for the earlier list of charges are April 7 for a probable cause hearing and April 14 for a preliminary exam.

Wagner joined the Detroit Police Department in 1989 as a police officer and was eventually promoted to sergeant. He retired in 2017 and moved to North Carolina.

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Detroit, MI

Metro Detroit weather forecast, March 26, 2026 — 11 p.m. Update

Published

13 hours ago

March 27, 2026

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Metro Detroit weather forecast, March 26, 2026 — 11 p.m. Update

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Detroit, MI

Fangirl Culture is Front and Center as Detroit Mercy Theatre Company Presents a Zany Y2K Comedy

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

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Fangirl Culture is Front and Center as Detroit Mercy Theatre Company Presents a Zany Y2K Comedy

I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire closes Detroit Mercy’s 55th Season

DETROIT — Detroit Mercy Theatre Company (DMTC) closes the inaugural season of the new Detroit

Mercy Black Box Theatre with I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire by Samantha Hurley, playing April 10-19 on University of Detroit Mercy’s McNichols Campus.

I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire is set in 2004 and follows 14-year-old Shelby Hinkley, who is obsessed with Hollywood star Tobey Maguire and creates a play to kidnap and marry him in her basement.

“This play is as hilarious as it is heartfelt,” said DMTC managing director Sarah Rusk. “Shelby truly believes Tobey Maguire is her destiny, and through her obsession we get a look into the complicated emotions of growing up during the Y2K era.”

“I absolutely love working with young actors,” said director Cassandra Svacha.

Student Actor, Rileyt McDevitt. Detroit Mercy — *Student actor* ***Riley McDevitt,*** *Photo by Alan Devlin*

“Watching them create and rise to the challenge is thrilling. I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire to college-aged kids is like a period piece; none of them were alive when this story takes place so it’s extra fun to have them dive into this world in an anthropologic way. They aren’t reminiscing or remembering 2004, they have to study that world and build it for themselves.”

I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire runs six performances April 10-19 at the new Detroit Mercy Black Box Theatre on University of Detroit Mercy’s McNichols Campus. The DMTC Ticket Office is open Tuesday-Thursday 10 a.m.- 2 p.m., with tickets being available for purchase anytime online at www.DetroitMercyArts.com.

Individual tickets are $25 for adults, $18 for seniors and Detroit Mercy faculty, staff and alumni, and $10 for veterans and students (ages 4-college). Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. To schedule your group, contact Sarah Rusk at 313-993-3273.

Those looking to buy tickets should note that the play is rated R and contains adult language and