Mequon man, 52, identified as victim in Milwaukee River shooting

The man who died after trying to save his dog near the Thiensville Dam on the Milwaukee River has been identified.

The body of Aleksandr “Alex” Melnikov, 52, of Mequon, was found by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the South Ozaukee Fire Department on the evening of Friday, June 7, after two days of search and rescue efforts that involved more than a dozen entities and employed both drones and sonar.

Melnikov was identified by the Ozaukee County Medical Examiner's Office on June 10.

Family members, friends and customers remember Melnikov as a man with a generous soul who valued his relationships with others, Melnikov's son, Vlad Melnikov, told the Ozaukee Press.

Vlad Melnikov declined to be interviewed by the Journal Sentinel, but told the Ozaukee Press that his father would have stepped in for anyone who needed help.

Melnikov was an electrician and owned his own business that served customers in Ozaukee County and Milwaukee's North Shore.

Before he disappeared, Alex was playing ball at the Thiensville village park with his beloved 3-year-old chocolate lab named Kobe.

As of midday Tuesday, Kobe was still missing and the Melnikovs hope the public will continue searching. If anyone finds him, they should call the local police non-emergency number, Vlad said.

“Those two were inseparable,” Vlad told Ozaukee Press.

Vlad described his father as a hard worker, planting trees on his property, maintaining a bustling garden and blazing trails through the woods. He was building a chicken coop before he died.

The family asks that anyone wishing to make a donation in Alex Melnikov's memory to do so to the Wisconsin Humane Society's Ozaukee Campus.