Wisconsin research boat, missing for weeks, found in Michigan
GRAFTON, Wis. - A University of Wisconsin-Madison doctoral student's research boat has been found in Michigan – six weeks after it went missing on the water.
Chelsea Volpano was collecting data offshore in Lake Michigan at Lion's Den Nature Preserve on Oct. 30. It was a perfect day to collect information about coastal erosion until the small research vessel drifted away.
"Those conditions only happen so often, so I was really lucky to get them so late in the season," she told FOX6 News in November. "I was sending the boat out, and I lost connection with the controller, so I could no longer control which way the motors were going."
SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News
UW-Madison research boat missing in Lake Michigan: 'Incalculable loss'
A UW-Madison doctoral student is asking people to be on the lookout after research boat used in her project went missing in Lake Michigan.
Tuesday, Volpano said the vessel was found more than 100 miles across the lake in Frankfort, Michigan.
Volpano said if the data on the boat was lost, it would put her back a year from finishing her degree. It is unclear whether the data was intact.