Opinion ID: 2101902
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Evidence of CIGNA's Alleged Abandonment of Ownership

Text: It was undisputed that neither Aetna nor CIGNA had attempted to salvage the Lady Elgin until Zych discovered the wreck and entered into the agreement with CIGNA. However, testimony of the parties' experts proved that until relatively recently, such efforts would have been extremely painstaking and economically impractical. The State's expert, Robert Kutzleb, described various methods available in 1860 by which the lake could be dragged, and then, when an item was snagged, divers dispatched to retrieve it. Defense experts, however, dismissed this method as impractical in this case because the Lady Elgin had broken into many pieces and the bottom of Lake Michigan was replete with rocks and debris. Defense expert Martin Klein testified that, as late as 1960, salvage technology was still very rudimentary. Klein acknowledged that the sidescan sonar ultimately used to discover the ship was available in 1967; however, it was still in its infancy and very costly. In Klein's opinion, given the existent salvage and navigational technology, the chances of the Lady Elgin having been discovered prior to 1989 were almost negligible. This was primarily because the wreckage was scattered and proved to be miles away from the location commonly reported. This was substantially corroborated by Zych, who also testified as a defense expert. In ruling in favor of defendants, the trial court first rejected the State's contention that Aetna had refused abandonment, and concluded that the company had accepted title to the wreckage in 1860 when it paid the claim under the policy. The court then went on to find that the State had failed to prove that CIGNA subsequently abandoned its interest. The court was persuaded by the fact that CIGNA had preserved for 129 years the six pieces of correspondence evidencing its coverage of the ship, certain details of the claim, and its payment on the loss. The court further found that CIGNA's failure to search for the wreckage was justified by the fact that the necessary equipment to conduct such a search was unavailable until the 1970s. On appeal, the court agreed with the trial court that Aetna had acquired title to the shipwreck in 1860; however, with one justice dissenting, the court reversed the determination that CIGNA had not subsequently abandoned its interest. The court accepted the State's argument that, as a matter of law, Aetna abandoned any interest when it made no effort to recover the wreckage, did not explore the possibility of recovering the wreckage, and displayed no interest in the ship for a period of 129 years. 292 Ill. App.3d at 1094, 227 Ill.Dec. 218, 687 N.E.2d 141. The appellate court placed particular emphasis on CIGNA's failure to attempt to locate the shipwreck even after the technology to do so became available in the late 1960s or 1970s.