DETROIT, MI — A life ring and lifeboat fragment found after the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald are up for auction after a strange detour through a police misconduct lawsuit .

DuMouchelles in Detroit will auction the relics after the state attempted to acquire them as part of a lawsuit against the Michigan State Police brought by Larry Orr, a Florida man who found them 50 years ago.

Orr, 77, previously loaned the ring and plank from the ship’s No. 1 lifeboat to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, which displayed them for years. He found them on the Lake Superior shoreline a week after the freighter sank with all hands on Nov. 10, 1975 .

The life ring and plank are being sold as a single lot. Starting bid is $11,250 and the auction estimate ranges from $15,000 to $20,000. The ite

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