A diver who died Saturday in 135 feet of water while exploring a shipwreck had become entangled in ropes tethered to buoys, but whether that contributed to his death is not known, investigators said Monday.
Deep K. Varma, 41, of Verona died Saturday morning of fresh-water drowning, Ozaukee Sheriff’s Lt. Rod Galbraith said, citing the results of a Milwaukee County medical examiner’s autopsy that was performed Monday.
Varma was one of 12 members of a University of Wisconsin-Madison diving club on a chartered expedition to explore the sunken wreckage of The Northerner, a schooner built in 1851 that foundered in a storm off Port Washington in November 1868. The wreck is about five miles southeast of Port Washington.