Kayaker who faked death, fled country has returned to US and is in custody in Wisconsin: Officials

(GREEN LAKE, Wis.) — Ryan Borgwardt, the husband and father who authorities said faked his own death at a lake and fled the country, has returned to the U.S. willingly and is now in custody in Wisconsin, the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office announced on Wednesday.

Borgwardt — who is accused of intentionally misleading authorities to believe he drowned this summer — notified officials he was returning and he landed in the U.S. on Tuesday, Sheriff Mark Podoll said at a news conference, but the sheriff did not reveal from where he flew.

Podoll said authorities are still putting together where Borgwardt was and who he was with since he vanished in August, but said he’s “cooperated” with law enforcement.

Borgwardt “researched other individuals that had successfully disappeared recently,” including lake deaths and “how deep a body has to be without resurfacing,” according to the criminal complaint.

When he was abroad and trying to stay under the radar, Borgwardt said he checked the news but usually avoided clicking on articles, the complaint said. The criminal complaint mentions Borgwardt having been in the country of Georgia.

Borgwardt said when he did click on a news article, “he would use a VPN and sometimes make it look like he was in Russia or somewhere else other than Georgia,” the complaint said. “Ryan stated that he knew that Georgia would have to extradite him and he wanted to be informed and prepared.”

Asked what compelled Borgwardt to come back, Podoll said, “His family, I guess.”

Podoll did not say if Borgwardt has had contact with his wife and children.

Borgwardt, who is charged with obstructing an officer, made his first court appearance on Wednesday. He faces up to a $10,000 fine and nine months in prison for alleged obstruction of an officer.

A signature bond was set at $500, since he “voluntarily turned himself in” from “halfway around the world,” the judge said. When the judge asked if he could afford any bail, Borgwardt replied, “I have $20 in my wallet.”

The case began on Aug. 11, when Borgwardt texted his wife that he was turning his kayak around on Green Lake and heading to shore soon, Podoll said.

But the dad of three never came home.

Responders found Borgwardt’s overturned kayak and life jacket in the lake and believed he drowned, officials said.

Crews scoured the lake for weeks using divers, drones, sonar and cadaver K-9s, but never found him, officials said.

In October, investigators discovered Borgwardt’s name had been checked by law enforcement in Canada two days after he vanished on the lake, the sheriff said.

Authorities also learned Borgwardt had been communicating with a woman from Uzbekistan, the sheriff said.

Borgwardt’s other suspicious behavior included: clearing his browsers the day he disappeared, inquiring about moving funds to foreign banks, obtaining a new passport and getting a new life insurance policy, the sheriff said.

Authorities determined Borgwardt was alive and likely in Eastern Europe or western Asia, but they didn’t know exactly where he was located. Authorities made contact with a woman who speaks Russian, and in November, they reached Borgwardt through that woman, authorities said.

Borgwardt said when he got the email from authorities, his “heart hit the floor,” the complaint said.

Borgwardt told police he was safe but didn’t reveal his location, the sheriff said.

Borgwardt did reveal to authorities how he faked his death.

“He stashed an e-bike near the boat launch. He paddled his kayak in a child-sized floating boat out into the lake. He overturned the kayak and dumped his phone in the lake,” the sheriff said at a news conference in November. “He paddled the inflatable boat to shore and got on his e-bike and rode through the night to Madison, [Wisconsin]. In Madison, he boarded a bus and went to Detroit, and then the Canadian border.”

Borgwardt said the Canadian Border Patrol was “suspicious” that he didn’t have a driver’s license or flight itinerary with him, but “ultimately, they allowed him to continue,” according to the complaint.

At the airport in Toronto, Borgwardt said he bought a flight to Paris.

On the plane, Borgwardt said he searched for news in Green Lake and saw “something about the missing kayaker and believes that his plan had worked,” according to the complaint.

After he landed in Paris he flew to a country in Asia, the complaint said.

An unidentified woman picked him up and they went to a hotel where they stayed for a couple of days, the complaint said.

Borgwardt was later in an apartment, according to a video he made for law enforcement.

No one else is facing charges, the sheriff said.

Asked if Borgwardt will be required to reimburse the county for the money spent on the search, Podoll told reporters, “That’s part of the restitution that we present to the court.”

He is next due in court on Jan. 13.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.