The Monitor left on the July of 1926. According to The Muskegon Tribune it disappeared in a strong thunderstorm. I think that is most likely what happened. Also, it was supposedly carrying furniture and jewelry. Many ships including the Monitor have sunk in lake Michigan. The Monitor left from Muskegon traveling to Chicago.
As the Monitor left for Chicago it had a leak. According to Captain Sanders “ James Thompson the captain refused aid from me”. That is very Suspicious! Just as strange is that Captains James Thomas’s family went missing in Mexico a few months later. “She always wanted to live the high life” said a neighbor.