By Canadian Press

Wisconsin kayaker who faked his own death is alive in Eastern Europe, police say

Nov 21, 2024 | 11:30 AM

GREEN LAKE, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin man who investigators said faked his own drowning this summer so he could abandon his wife and three children is alive somewhere in Eastern Europe, police said Thursday.

Ryan Borgwardt has been communicating with police since Nov. 11, Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll announced at a news conference. He showed a video that Borgwardt sent police that day from an undisclosed location. Police don’t know exactly where he is, but Podoll said it was somewhere in Eastern Europe.

“The great news is we know that he is alive and well,” Podoll said. “The bad news is we don’t know where Ryan exactly is and he has not yet decided to return home.”

Podoll said police have been in daily contact with him and no criminal charges have been filed.

“He needs to return home to his children,” Podoll said. “If he chooses not to return, it’s on his own free will. … We keep pulling at his heart strings.”

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Borgwardt’s disappearance was first investigated as a possible drowning after he went kayaking on Green Lake, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Milwaukee. But subsequent clues, including that he obtained a new passport three months before he disappeared, led investigators to speculate that he faked his death to meet up with a woman he had been communicating with in Uzbekistan.

He was last heard from the night of Aug. 11 when he texted his wife in Watertown shortly before 11 p.m., saying he was headed to shore after kayaking.

Deputies located his vehicle and trailer near the lake. They also found his overturned kayak with a life jacket attached to it in an area where the lake’s waters run more than 200 feet (60 meters) deep. An angler later discovered Borgwardt’s fishing rod.

Investigators initially speculated that Borgwardt’s kayak capsized and he didn’t have a life jacket. The search for his body went on for more than 50 days, with divers on several occasions exploring the lake.

In early October, the sheriff’s department learned that Canadian law enforcement authorities had run Borgwardt’s name through their databases the day after he was reported missing. Further investigation revealed that he had reported his passport lost or stolen and had obtained a new one in May.

Police said the analysis of a laptop revealed a digital trail that showed Borgwardt planned to head to Europe and tried to mislead investigators.

Police said the laptop’s hard drive had been replaced and the browsers had been cleared the day Borgwardt disappeared. Investigators found passport photos, inquiries about moving money to foreign banks, and communication with a woman from Uzbekistan. They also discovered that he took out a $375,000 life insurance policy in January.

Todd Richmond, The Associated Press