A Wisconsin father of three faked his own disappearance and departed the country, abandoning his wife and children, it has been discovered.
A huge search was initiated after Ryan Borgwardt, 45, was reported missing by his family on August 12 while kayaking in Green Lake. His family feared the worst, believing he had drowned.
The hunt for his body lasted eight weeks, with police and neighborhood volunteers urgently scouring for any sign of him, according to a press conference held Friday afternoon by the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities recovered an overturned kayak and life jacket believed to be Borgwardt’s, as well as his vehicle near Dodge Memorial Park.
A fisherman later hooked a fishing rod that the missing man’s wife identified as his, and further personal goods, including his wallet and keys, were discovered. But now, investigators believe Borgwardt devised a crazy plan to fake his own death and flee to Europe.
They claim they discovered a new lead in the search for the missing man when they began analyzing his computers for clues and broadening the investigation. It was subsequently discovered that law officials in Canada had conducted a cross-check on him the day after he was reported missing.
They also discovered that the alleged missing man had been conversing with a woman from Uzbekistan online, had started a new bank account, had obtained a new passport before leaving his existing one at home before his kayaking expedition, and had deleted his computer.
Despite his efforts to conceal his tracks, the digital imprint persisted. Investigators said they discovered a plot that had been in the works for seven months, beginning with his acquisition of a $375,000 life insurance policy. All search operations have halted since the finding, but investigators suspect he has gone to Europe and are appealing with him to return to his family.
“Ryan, if you are viewing this, please contact us or your family. We recognize that things can happen, but there is a family who wants their father back,” Sheriff Mark Podoll stated during the press conference.
“They feared their father had drowned. “They discovered a day ago that he wasn’t,” Podoll stated during the briefing.
“I want to thank the family and his wife. “That is a strong lady,” he observed.
“Whenever we called on her, she always answered and did everything she could for us. “I can’t imagine what she and they are going through.”