By CAROLYN THOMPSON • Associated Press • June 17, 2010

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A federal magistrate judge has sided with the state in a dispute over who has rights to a sunken 19th-century schooner in Lake Erie.

A group of shipwreck hunters laid claim to the vessel in 2004, hoping to raise it and preserve it in a giant display tank on Buffalo's waterfront. The vessel was found about 20 miles off Dunkirk, west of Buffalo, resting in 170 feet of cold freshwater.

But the state soon claimed ownership under federal and state law and accused the group, Northeast Research, LLC, of mishandling the wreck and human remains found on board.

Read the rest of the article here.