Lots of things have been lost in Badin Lake over the years but the largest was probably the Badin Bomber which crashed into the lake in June 1944. There is a history behind the aircraft itself but the a certain Wendy Coble took great pains to document efforts to salvage the airplane's wreckage. Coble's narrative of the Badin Bomber has a number of interesting stories including this tidbit:

"Evidently, the allure of a difficult search proved impossible to ignore. One group, Vintage Military Aircraft Recovery of Los Angeles, California, tried to convince the town to work with them to recover the plane for restoration. They announced plans to remove the plane to California, and after it was restored, bring it back to Badin--for a price. When the town declined their offers of assistance, they threatened to come at night and take the plane when no one was watching."

Interesting stuff - while lengthy Coble's account is an interesting read and provides lots of nice details that make it a breezy read.