The remains of a local man who went missing during a kayaking trip last year in Wyoming have been found.

A Wisconsin nonprofit organization specializing in recovering drowning victims located Wes Dopkins, formerly of Prescott, in 420 feet of water on Sept. 9, nearly 14 months after he disappeared.

Dopkins, who was 43 and living in St. Paul, had set off with a friend on June 15, 2024 in two kayaks from Colter Bay Marina on Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park when a storm blew in. The men, who were planning to paddle 3 miles across the lake to view Waterfalls Canyon on the west shore, became separated. Dopkins’ friend made it safely back to shore; Dopkins did not. Rescuers found his folding kayak, paddle and dry bag floating off an island, but not him.

Wes’ parents, Kathryn and Mark Dopkins, rural Ellsworth residents, were shocked when he was found.

“It brings so many mixed emotions,” Kathryn said.

The Dopkins family connected with Black River Falls-based nonprofit Bruce’s Legacy after one of its supporters read last year’s “Pierce County Journal” article on Wes’ disappearance. Bruce’s Legacy uses side-scan sonar technology and remotely operated vehicles to locate and recover drowning victims at no cost to the families. The organization is named after Bruce Cormican, a firefighter who died as a result of trying to recover the body of a father who drowned.

“His sister works in the River Falls area and one of her clients had the newspaper,” Kathryn said. “She reached out to me. At the time, I wasn’t able to think about it. I had all of Wes’ things to deal with. Moving him out of his apartment and getting that all settled. A storage unit full of his stuff.”

However, last September, Kathryn contacted Director Keith Cormican and asked him to try to find Wes. Cormican founded Bruce’s Legacy and the Jackson County Dive Unit as a way to honor his brother.

“Since the 1990s, he has gone around the world to help recover people,” Kathryn said. “He doesn’t give up. He keeps trying until he can’t find anymore.”

Initial attempts to locate Wes began in October 2024. According to Bruce’s Legacy, “the search proved to be some of the most challenging underwater terrain we’ve faced yet. The lake is a jagged continuation of the surrounding mountains, so the contours are acutely uneven, with a landscape of hidden ridges and valleys.”

After four challenging days and multiple technical issues, the group called off the search, vowing to return. Volunteers began the search again on Sept. 3, 2025 in 200 feet of water with a side scan sonar device. Late in the day Sept. 7, they found his body in 420 feet of water, about 1.5 miles from where he was last seen.

“As a storm was moving in, we were forced to leave the site for the night to stay safe,” Bruce’s Legacy website states. “We contacted the rangers and agreed to meet them the next morning at 7:30 a.m. On Monday, we met with three park rangers and, working together, were able to successfully retrieve Wesley.”

Kathryn thought they would be looking for weeks and weeks with little hope of finding him. She was stunned they did so in a matter of days. While grateful, it doesn’t change the fact that her son is gone.

“I want to talk about closure,” Kathryn said. “This popular word that people like to say is not the feeling that I have. People make this assumption that when a body is found, that people must be, they can’t assume that people are going to be happy or feel relief. Rather than closing, it’s like a reopening of everything that has happened and it’s very painful. Even though we’re grateful to the nonprofit and Keith for all the work and are amazed, we are experiencing the full complexity of grief. It’s gotten to be a cliché and a platitude.”

Kathryn believes Wes was “home” the moment his spirit left his body.

“There’s no closure on grief, there’s no closure on love,” she said. “It’s all just a wild experience that is a sudden grief. It’s more of a shock that he was found.

“People want the best for you, they want to fix things, they want everything to have a happy ending. But there are some things that just don’t have happy endings. You survive and go on,” she said quietly while looking at a photo of her son. “He is with us and that will never change. I just ask that people don’t assume anything about what people are experiencing. We are not the same people we used to be. I just ask for patience with folks that are grieving. Just show up, call, reach out, don’t assume anything. Ask what’s today like for you? Don’t try to cheer us up when we don’t feel like cheering up. Don’t worry about saying the right thing. There are no words that help.”

Kathryn said rescuers identified Wes by his clothing. They will go to Wyoming to collect his cremated remains.

“His friend that he was with said that Wes wanted his ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean,” Kathryn said.

The Dopkins family is grateful to the National Park Service rangers and staff at Grand Teton National Park.

“Their cooperation and help was crucial to Keith Cormican and Bruce’s Legacy work of retrieving Wes’s body,” Kathryn said. “Also, the scores of local volunteers helping with the initial search for Wes, over land and water. Praises for those citizens and their selfless efforts.”

In June, a week before the anniversary of Wes’ disappearance, his friends and family held a bike-a-thon in his memory. Wes was an avid bicyclist dedicated to bike safety. Money raised went to the League of American Bicyclists.

“His friend group is looking at making it an annual event,” Kathryn said.

Kathryn and Mark held a memorial service for Wes last December at St. Paul Academy, where Wes had been a student.

“That felt really nice to do that. It seemed like the right time to do it before the year was complete. It was livestreamed so his friends across the world could watch,” Kathryn said. “Wes had a life that was beautiful. He went out on top of a beautiful mountain. But we have our lives to live too.”

To learn more about Bruce’s Legacy or to donate to their mission, visit bruceslegacy.com