Lansing, MI (WOWO) The state of Michigan has paid $600,000 to settle a lawsuit related to an alleged rights violation by the Michigan State Police — and in a highly unusual twist, the settlement included the donation of a rare artifact: a life ring from the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.

In the case, Larry Orr sued the Michigan State Police alleging a trooper violated his rights during a now-discredited sexual abuse investigation. The settlement was put on the court record on October 8 by U.S. Magistrate Judge David Grand who described the proceeding as an “unusual settlement conference.”

According to Bridge Michigan – As part of the settlement, Mr. Orr agreed to relinquish his ownership of the orange life ring, which he had found on the shore of Lake Superior after the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a fierce storm on November 10, 1975, taking all 29 of her crew with her.

Despite the state now taking possession of the artifact, the Michigan State Police later issued a statement saying they were “not comfortable” with the life ring being part of the deal, and indicated they would reach out to Mr. Orr’s attorney to clarify how it was included.

The ring had been on display at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum (in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula) on long-term loan before Mr. Orr retrieved it earlier this year with the intent to auction it around the 50-year anniversary of the shipwreck.

The value of the ring is unclear, but Mr. Orr’s attorney suggested it may have represented approximately half the value of the $600,000 settlement.