The wrecked schooner continued to deteriorate in the shallow, dynamic environment of the reef.  On 15 January 1885, a severe storm, compounded by ice accumulation, toppled her mizzenmast , indicating the Nilsson was breaking up, although she lay submerged. The vessel's stern, deck, and aft cabin had apparently been crushed by ice, leaving nothing but the keelson , which was insufficient to hold the top weight of the mast and standing rigging .

By 29 January the mainmast had been carried away, leaving only the foremast and bowsprit above water.  The schooner's deck load of pig iron finally came to rest on the lake bottom. The foremast remained standing until 5 March 1885, when the retreating ice dislodged and carried it away.

Divers eventually salvaged the remaining cargo during June and July of 1885. The schooner's remaining rigging was salvaged and brought to Chicago on 5 July 1885 by the schooner A. Ford, thus ending contemporary interest in the Christina Nilsson.