Rock Co. officials recover body from Bowers Lake during search for missing hiker

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - The Rock County Sheriff’s Office has located a body from Bowers Lake Friday, closing the search for the 66-year-old man reported missing after he went hiking with his two dogs near Storrs Lake Wednesday morning.

According to a news release, authorities were searching the northwest corner of Bowers Lake Friday afternoon where 66-year-old Kevin J. Doyle’s dogs were found dead on Thursday.

The sheriff’s office drone team noticed an anomaly in the water on their drone feed, and they directed a Recreational Safety Deputy in a boat to that area. Two divers were able to confirm finding a body in the Bowers Lake, working with the medical examiner to recover the body.

The Rock County Sheriff’s Office did not confirm if the body was that of the missing hiker, but they said this incident is considered closed.

The Rock County Medical Examiner will identify the body.

The sheriff’s office thanked the contributions of many for their help with the “difficult search.”

Search teams had been looking for Kevin J. Doyle since Wednesday morning when he went missing around Storss Lake, near Milton. In a Facebook post, Rock Co. deputies said Kevin J. Doyle was last seen leaving his home around 9:30 a.m. and heading toward Storrs Lake with his two yellow Labrador retrievers, Ollie and Frank.

His family noted that Doyle does this “most days” and Ollie was such a common sight by his side that his hairdresser, MaryAnn Knudsen, who was also Ollie’s breeder, said the dog joined him for all his trips to the barbershop.