A Wisconsin man who had been missing since August after going kayaking on Green Lake recently resurfaced to confess to faking his death and moving to Eastern Europe.

On August 12, the tranquility of the town of Watertown, Wisconsin, was shattered by the disappearance of Ryan Borgwardt, a 44-year-old husband and father of three. Borgwardt had gone on a short kayaking trip on Green Lake but disappeared completely, and an emergency search found his capsized kayak on the lake and his vehicle and trailer in a nearby park, suggesting that he had fallen in the lake and drowned. A day later, local fishermen found Ryan’s fishing rod and then a tacklebox containing his belongings. All the signs pointed to Borgwardt’s accidental demise, but then, one day, during the investigation that followed, local law enforcement found evidence that suggested Ryan had crossed into Canada, and border authorities there confirmed that they had indeed run his passport a day after his disappearance. It was this discovery that led to the uncovering of Ryan Borgwardt’s elaborate plan to fake his death and leave his family behind.

Photo: Unsplash

“Great news: We know that he’s alive and well,” Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said in a news conference earlier this month. “The bad news is, we do not know where, exactly, Ryan is and he has not yet decided to return home.”

Investigators made contact with the 44-year-old man on November 11 and have reportedly been in contact with him ever since. He has confessed to faking his death in order to cover his track, detailing every step of his elaborate plan, but has yet to offer an explanation for inflicting trauma on his wife and three children. According to Sheriff Podoll, “he just had personal matters going on and he thought this was the right thing to do,” but some news sources have since been speculating that he had fallen madly in love with another woman and had eloped with her.

“Good evening, it’s Ryan Borgwardt, today is 11 November, it’s approximately 10 am by you guys. I’m in my apartment,” Borgwardt could be heard saying during a recent press conference. “I am safe, secure, no problem. I hope this works.”

Ryan told investigators that he had planned every detail of his plan months before executing it. He stashed an electric bike near the boat launch on Green Lake, then paddled onto the water with a kayak and a child-sized inflatable boat. He then overturned his kayak and tossed his phone in the water before paddling back to shore in the inflatable boat. He then rode his bike 80 miles through the night to Madison where he boarded a bus to Detroit. He eventually crossed into Canada where he boarded a flight to Europe using a new passport. Investigators are still verifying his story, but so far most of it checks out.

Authorities say that Borgwardt changed the hard drive in his computer and erased his search history before disappearing. He also took out a $375,000 life insurance policy, which Podoll said was intended to help his family, transferred funds to a foreign account, changed his email and spoke to a woman in Uzbekistan. Investigators were able to get in contact with Borgwardt through a Russian-speaking woman, although they have yet to verify if it is the same woman he had been speaking to before disappearing.

“In our communications, we are expressing the importance of his decision to return home and clean up the mess that he has created,” Sheriff Podoll said, adding that Borgwardt expressed regret regarding his actions. He is aware that he put his family through hell and that he cost US authorities tens of thousands of dollars in resources and man-hours, but, to his defense, he said that he believed searches for his body would cease within two weeks of his disappearance.

 

“He expressed concerns that if he does come back, it’s going to be hard to live (and that) no one will accept him. But the community has stated before that they’re willing to forgive,” Sheriff Podoll told reporters, adding that he tried convincing him to come back for his kids. “Christmas is coming, and what better gift he could give his kids to be there for Christmas with them.”