Missing man’s body found

By AARON HOLBROOK – Managing Editor January 24, 2003

TOWN OF TRENTON – A K-9 search unit from Waukesha County located the body of a 36-year-old Beaver Dam man Thursday afternoon, three days after he was first reported missing.

Bruce A. Stafford, was reported missing on Tuesday morning after he failed to show up for work at Centro in Horicon at 2:30 a.m. that day. Stafford’s car was found the same morning parked at a Beaver Dam Lake boat landing on Sunset Point Road in the Dodge County town of Trenton.

Since Tuesday, searchers had been looking in the same area in which Stafford’s body was found. On Wednesday they had discovered a pair of gloves and footprints that they believed belonged to Stafford.

The body was found about one and one-quarter miles from Stafford’s car, according to the Dodge County Sheriff’s Department. The area, known locally as Fish Camp, is about five miles north of Beaver Dam between Beaver Dam Lake and Highway 33 near Breezy Point Road.

Detectives from the Dodge County Sheriff’s Department and Beaver Dam Police Department are investigating the site. Dodge County Medical Examiner John Burgbacher said an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of Stafford’s death.

Police said there were no signs of foul play at the scene and added that extreme cold is suspected of playing a role in Stafford’s death. Wisconsin has been in the midst of sub-zero temperatures and wind chills for the last three days.

Stafford’s body was discovered by A. J. Marhofke and his dog Zip who are part of the 911BC K-9 Search and Rescue of Dousman. Other members of the group who came up for the search were Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department Detective Michael Andree, Amy Toll Bork and Steve Louden.

Bork contacted Marhofke on behalf of the family after searches by dogs on Tuesday and Wednesday failed to locate Stafford.

Marhofke said low temperatures hindered the search, but that his and Andree’s experience helped focus the search on Thursday to an area that had been overlooked the previous two days.

“There were a lot of well-intentioned people there, but no real plan,” Marhofke said.

The group arrived on the scene at 11:30 a.m. and within about two hours located Stafford’s body.

Marhofke added that his sympathies were with the family.

The Beaver Dam Police Department, Dodge County Sheriff’s Department and the Stafford family expressed gratitude to those who assisted in the search, which included more than 80 people.

“We had a wonderful amount of support,” said Don Burmester, Stafford’s brother-in-law.