Missing father of three may have faked his own death and fled 'somewhere in Europe': officials

GREEN LAKE, Wis. – Authorities in Wisconsin believe a father of three who disappeared Aug. 12 may have staged his disappearance and fled to Europe.

Ryan Borgwardt's family reported him missing that Monday when he didn't come home, and authorities and volunteers in Wisconsin searched for the 45-year-old for months after finding his capsized kayak in Green Lake that same day.

The next day, two fishermen fishing at the bottom of Green Lake found “a fishing rod” that officers collected as evidence, and Borgwardt's wife identified the fishing rod as her husband's, Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said March 8 November press conference recorded by FOX 11.

Months of searches involving law enforcement and volunteers from Bruce's Legacy, a Wisconsin-based organization that conducts search and recovery operations for drowning victims, passed without answers.

“On October 4th, a Friday, I met with Keith Cormican from Bruce's Legacy and he said to me, 'Sheriff, I've done a lot of searches and I can't find him,'” recalls Podoll. “He said, 'We looked, and we looked.'”

Cormican's insight led law enforcement to take their investigation in a “different direction” on Oct. 7, Podoll explained during the news conference.

That's when the sheriff's office decided to conduct a digital forensic analysis of Borgwardt's computer and soon determined that the missing father and husband likely lived “somewhere in Europe.”

Through digital forensic analysis, authorities also determined that before his disappearance, Borgwardt replaced his laptop's hard drive, deleted his browser history on the day of his disappearance, took photos of his passport, transferred money to a foreign bank, and changed his email address and … “communicated with a woman from Uzbekistan,” Podoll explained.

In addition, Borgwardt “took out $300,000 in life insurance and purchased airline cards in January,” the sheriff said, leading officials to believe he was still alive somewhere — just not in the United States.

“Based on these discoveries of new evidence, we were confident that Ryan was not in our lake,” Podoll said, later describing his office's investigation as “a puzzle” that they had to “put together,” with many complicated pieces.

Law enforcement authorities work to determine whether a crime has been committed or whether someone assisted in the commission of that crime.

Podoll also highlighted the significant loss to taxpayers who funded a months-long search for a man who may not be missing at all.

The sheriff also thanked Borgwardt's family, and especially his wife, for their help in finding the 45-year-old.

“She's a strong woman… I can't imagine what she's going through,” Podoll said.

To Borgwardt, Podoll said: “Ryan, if you are looking at this, I ask you to contact us or your family. We understand things can happen, but there is a family that wants their father back.”

The investigation into Borgwardt's disappearance will continue and will “involve many more people” in the future, the sheriff said.

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