Though the family of Wisconsin father Ryan Borgwardt had held out hope that his body would be recovered after he disappeared while kayaking in August, investigators now believe the man faked his own death so that he could flee the country, and is now believed to be somewhere in Eastern Europe.
On August 12, Borgwardt's kayak, fishing rod, wallet, and car keys were discovered at Green Lake, the day he went missing. A lifejacket floating on the water added to the evidence that his wife and three children had lost their husband and father.
After 54 days of an exhaustive search using divers, drones, sonar, and cadaver dogs, no body was found, and no additional evidence surfaced, prompting the sheriff's office to expand its investigation.
In October, the case took a turn when investigators learned that Borgwardt's name had been flagged by Canadian border officials on August 13, a day after he was reported missing.
Investigators then found that Borgwardt had reported his passport lost or stolen and was issued a new one shortly before his disappearance. His original passport was later found in his wife's possession, suggesting he may have used the new one to travel.
Pursuing this lead, officials conducted a digital forensic analysis of Borgwardt’s laptop, uncovering that he had been communicating with a woman in Uzbekistan, had recently taken out a $375,000 life insurance policy, transferred money to a foreign bank account, photographed his new passport, and changed his email address before vanishing.
They also discovered that on the day he disappeared, Borgwardt replaced the laptop’s hard drive and erased his browser history. Authorities found further evidence suggesting he may have traveled to a location in Europe.
You can see a news report about this below.
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
The story has understandably weirded people out—and they had thoughts.
In a statement, the Sheriff's Office for Green Lake County said Borgwardt's family is cooperating and that his wife has been "extremely strong" under the circumstances.
According to Matthew Vande Kolk, the Chief Deputy Sheriff:
“She has done everything that we have asked of her in regards to helping us with information, and holding on to information. "Unfortunately, we had to keep this quiet for about a month from the time that we started thinking that he was somewhere else, until we had enough information that we could share with the world, and she did that.”
“Our hope is then, at some point we'll be able to hold Ryan accountable for his actions and request restitution."
Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll urged Borgwardt to come forward, saying "we understand that things can happen, but there’s a family that wants their daddy back.”
