Ex-Daytonian stays steadfast in shipwreck quest despite opposition, health challenges

But the attention comes at a time when Steve Libert faces health challenges and persistent bureaucratic roadblocks, and today he considers himself all but unofficially retired, at least for the time being.

In a new interview with the Dayton Daily News, Libert recalled visiting a physician after experiencing stomach issues, only to be told, “You have two hernias, Steve, but you’re also filled with cancer.”

A six-month course of chemotheraphy followed.

“The health issues, they’re still going on,” Libert said.

Libert said he has turned down overtures to participate in reality television shows spotlighting his work to find the ship.

“I just didn’t think it was appropriate at the time,” he said.

“You’re the only (media) person I’ve called,” he added. “Even with the Wall Street Journal — they called me, I didn’t call them.”

His journey started in what was Wayne Township, which was incorporated as Huber Heights in early 1981.

In Libert’s telling, a single childhood experience was a formative one. A teacher at what was Titus Junior High, Mr. Kelly, told his students of LaSalle’s ship, Le Griffon, that was mysteriously lost in 1679.

“As he was walking around the room, he put his hands on my shoulder, and he said, ‘Maybe someone in this class will find it one of these days,’” Libert told this newspaper in a 2021 interview.

Steve and his wife Kathie authored a book on the subject, “Le Griffon and the Huron Islands - 1679: Our Story of Exploration and Discovery,” published by Mission Point Press in Michigan.

But while news organizations have turned their gaze on the Liberts and the fate of the Griffon, a stiff academic and government consensus against their opinion in the matter seems have to taken hold.

Experts quoted by these news organziations either express doubts or open dismissal of the idea that the Liberts and their friends have found the French ship, which sunk with a crew of 32 and a cargo deemed to be worth more than 600,000 pounds in today’s English currency (about $790,000).

But the people who dismiss his findings have never joined him on dives, Libert said. “They may have the expertise, but they don’t have the knowledge,” he said. “They haven’t actually seen the vessel.”

“I think that’s heritage and the way people act,” he added. “Especially on these reality shows, that’s one of the issues I have with these shows. They never find anything.”

Corey Adkins, spokesman for the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, said he was aware of Libert but declined to comment at length.

Meanwhile, the Liberts, who lead a Charlevoix, Mich. company called “Great Lakes Exploration Group LLC,” have never received permission from the state of Michigan to remove any objects they found under Lake Michigan.

The Liberts and their allies photograph their findings and make videos, but Libert said he removes nothing from the lakebed.

“He’s pretty persistent,” said Sam Kingrey, who owns machine shop SK Mold&Tool, which has locations in Troy and Tipp City, with about 55 local employees total.

Kingrey, who has joined Libert on some of his lake expeditions, and his wife have known the Liberts for more than a decade, often visiting the Liberts’ waterfront condominium in Charlevoix, Mich., about 450 miles from Dayton.

Three years ago, Kingrey’s company made a “dive elevator” for Libert that helps him get out of the water and back into a waiting boat.

“They would struggle,” Kingrey said. “I mean, there was just no way they could get in and other of the boat, with their age and health issues. They’re not as young as they used to be.”

The work wasn’t exhaustive or expensive, he said. He purchased a few materials and used other materials found around his shop to craft the device. “I just kind of visualized it in my mind, put it together, made some alterations, and it worked out well.”

“It’s kind of fun seeing a piece of equipment I built getting some good use,” he added. “It’s worked out well for him.”

‘Holy grail’ discovery?

Considered the “holy grail” of Great Lake shipwrecks, the Griffon’s place on the bottom of Lake Michigan — or wherever it rests — has never been confirmed.

During a murky 2001 dive, Libert found what he believes was a ship’s bowsprit or wooden pole protruding from the lake bottom in about eight to ten feet of water. That discovery led to another one 17 years later, when the Liberts found the remains of a ship three miles from the bowsprit in upper Lake Michigan, about 96 miles north of Green Bay, Wisc.

That discovery energized their quest

Steve Libert and his wife Kathie attended what was Dayton-Wayne High School, today Wayne High School. His father was a U.S. Marine Corps first sergeant, and his family lived in Northridge and Wayne Township, among other places.

He graduated from Wright State University in 1980, and for a time, he lived in Dayton, near the former WHIO-TV studios on Wilmington Pike.

Libert was a walk-on for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team and made the Dayton Colts, a semi-pro football team.

Kathie Libert also attended Wayne. She worked for WDTN-TV as a graphic designer for a time before both moved to Washington, D.C.

Steve Libert went on to work for the U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and for the office of the Chief of Naval Operations.

‘No one really knows’

Libert says he has worked with a shipwright, someone familiar with the size and design of a variety of watercraft. With the techniques of French ships and designs in mind, Libert remains steadfast that what he and his team found has a “high probability” of being Le Griffon, the flagship of French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle

“When it comes down to it, no one really knows what the Griffon looks like,” Libert said.

In 2013, he got the attention of French archaeologists, who secured permission from the state of Michigan to extract the bowsprit from Lake Michigan. He hopes to send that piece to a Texas A&M University lab for carbon dating.

“The state didn’t the push the issue, because they figured it was nothing but a ... piece of wood, not from a ship, just an old fishing apparatus,” Libert said.

Since then, Libert has had numerous permits to remove materials denied.

Faced with those roadblocks and an ongoing battle with cancer, Libert has paused his search.

“I can’t spend another ten years in court just to try to secure a permit,” he said.

He pledged to try to continue to photograph and video record artifacts found on the bottom of the lake.

“We do everything legally,” he said. “It’s a felony to bring something off the bottom of Lake Michigan.”