I've been diving in the Great Lakes every summer since I was a kid. Last week, I found the bones of someone who wasn't alive yet when I started.

I don’t have a lake house, but I’ve been diving in the Great Lakes for as long as anyone can remember. Every year, from the time I turned 8 years old, my parents took me to Lake Michigan for our summer vacation. We’d stay for a few weeks, or sometimes even months. And when I got older, this was where I brought my own kids to keep the tradition alive.<br><br>In fact, I was at the lake with my grandkids when it happened.<br><br>My son had taken them out to the water, and I decided to do some diving while I was waiting. I swam out pretty far, then ducked underwater and started exploring the bottom. The weather was perfect, and the water was calm, so I was amazed at how much I could see.<br><br>Then, all of a sudden, I found a skeleton lying on the lake floor.<br><br>It was dissolving, with the water eroding the bones. But I could still make out the arms, legs, and head. There was something attached to the head, like fishing gear. I had to look closer.<br><br>When I did, I realized it was a diving helmet. It looked old, and it had a piece of paper taped to the side. I pulled off the tape and realized it was a note. It was hard to read, but I could out some of the words.<br><br>“I think I’ve found what you’re looking for.”<br><br>“Turn back now.”<br><br>I had never seen anything like this before. I figured someone was just playing a prank on some other divers, but I still had to tell the authorities. So I swam back to the surface and told my family what I had found.<br><br>My kids were surprised and curious, but my grandkids were terrified. They were too scared to go back into the water, so we all went back to the house.<br><br>When we got there, I called the police and reported what I had found. They said they’d send someone out right away. I was still shaken, but I was just glad they were taking the situation seriously. I waited for them to show up, and when they did, I told them where to find the bones.<br><br>They asked me to come along and show them, and I agreed, but only if my grandkids could stay behind. The cops said that was fine, so they stayed with my son and daughter-in-law while I went with the police.<br><br>We took a boat out to where I had found the skeleton. When we got there, I dove into the water and swam down. It took a little while to find the body, but it was still there when I did. I signaled for the police to come down, and they did.<br><br>The divers suited up and followed me to the body. I pointed out where it was, and they started examining it. After a while, one of them signaled for me to come over. I swam up to him, and he pulled off his face mask.<br><br>“You okay to hear this down here?” he asked.<br><br>“Yeah, I guess.”<br><br>“Well, we found something kind of weird. This skeleton… it’s dissolving really slowly, even for a lake. We’re going to have to run some tests to be sure, but from what we can tell so far, this body has only been down here for a week or two.”<br><br>That didn’t make any sense. I had been coming to this lake my whole life. I had never heard of a diver dying here. It didn’t even look like the person had been diving. So I asked the cop what he thought had happened.<br><br>“Not sure,” he said. “But the bone decomposition is weird. Like I said, we think it’s only been a couple of weeks.”<br><br>I was about to respond, but then I stopped. Something about what the policeman said had given me an idea. I pulled off my mask and asked him to clarify.<br><br>“You said the bones have only been dissolving for a couple of weeks,” I said. “But how long until a body turns into bones?”<br><br>The cop thought about it for a second. “It depends on the water conditions and stuff, but usually around 8-10 years.”<br><br>I felt sick. I knew where I had found the bones. It was an area called the “Quicksand.” A long time ago, someone had died there, and we’d been warned to avoid it ever since. But I had been diving around the Quicksand my whole life. And I had never found a skeleton there. Not until now.<br><br>Until I found the bones of someone who hadn’t been born yet when I started coming to the lake.<br><br>This/File has been locked for further investigation.