After a missing person's case baffled Wisconsin authorities for more than three months, the man who disappeared has finally come forward, saying he is alive and well.
Ryan Borgwardt, 44, vanished in August during a kayaking trip. Initially, authorities believed he had drowned. But an exhaustive investigation — that involved cadaver dogs, divers and federal law enforcement — revealed that Borgwardt intended to fake his death and was residing somewhere in Eastern Europe.
Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said Thursday that his office has been in contact with Borgwardt for the past two weeks. Borgwardt's family has also been notified.
"Great news, we know that he's alive and well, the bad news is we do not know where Ryan exactly is and he has not yet decided to return home," Podoll said in a news conference.
The sheriff shared a brief proof-of-life video sent by Borgwardt from Nov. 11. In the video, Borgwardt — who has not disclosed his exact location to authorities — showed his new apartment. "I am safe, secure — no problem," he said.
Podoll said Borgwardt gave "a number of reasons" for staging his death.
"He just had personal matters going on and he felt this was the right thing to do," Podoll said, adding that there is no evidence to suggest that any of them were related to criminal activity or personal danger.
The sheriff said he could not comment on the possibility of federal charges, but that Green Lake County will seek restitution, noting that his office spent between $35,000 and $40,000 in Borgwardt's search.
Podoll added that while no warrant has been issued yet, that could change if Borgwardt does not cooperate and return home soon.
A three-month search
On Aug. 12, Green Lake County Sheriff's Office received a call that Borgwardt had not returned home after kayaking on Green Lake. Borgwardt had called his wife the night before, saying he was almost finished and heading toward the shore, Podoll said in a press conference on Nov. 8.
Deputies immediately launched a search, using boats and sonar to survey the lake. They found his car, kayak, life jacket and a tackle box that included his driver's license, keys and wallet. Still, Borgwardt's body was nowhere to be found.
The sheriff's office persisted. Over the next several weeks, they deployed drones, a dive team and three cadaver dogs to assist with the search. Keith Cormican from Bruce's Legacy, a volunteer group based in Wisconsin that helps search and recover victims of drowning, spent 28 days on the lake looking for Borgwardt, according to Podoll.
By October, hope was fading. Podoll said that's when he redirected the investigation. Soon, they discovered that Canadian authorities had run Borgwardt's name on Aug. 13.
"That was something we didn't expect," he said.
Podoll then had a digital forensic analyst examine Borgwardt's laptop, which revealed that the father of three had transferred funds to a foreign bank, taken photos of his passport, changed his email, been communicating with a woman in Uzbekistan, and taken out a $375,000 life insurance policy in January.
"Due to these discoveries of the new evidence, we were sure that Ryan was not in our lake," Podoll said.
How Borgwardt ran away
Borgwardt's plan to fake his death and flee the country was months in the making. He told authorities that he chose to disappear on Green Lake because it was the deepest lake in Wisconsin, according to Podoll.
On the day of his disappearance, Borgwardt carefully stashed an e-bike near the lake before taking off in a child-sized inflatable boat, while carrying a kayak.
On the lake, he flipped his kayak, discarded his phone, and then paddled the small boat to shore. From there, he rode his e-bike some 70 miles to Madison, where he boarded a bus to Detroit and then another to the Canadian border, before he boarded a plane.
"One of the things that he did say was he didn't expect us to go more than two weeks in searching for him," Podoll said. "Well, I hate to tell you, you picked the wrong sheriff and the wrong department."
Podoll added that Borgwardt said he took out his life insurance policy for his family and expressed remorse for his actions, as well as the time and resources spent on his search.
"He says, 'You know, I got myself in this situation and I just gotta try to get out of it,'" Podoll said.
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