Ryan Borgwardt’s disappearance was a cautionary tale for outdoor enthusiasts. Now, it turns out the whole thing was a ruse. Photo: Cameron Worsley//Unsplash
For two months, the story of Ryan Borgwardt’s disappearance was a cautionary tale for outdoor enthusiasts: a man who had ventured out on his own to go kayaking but never made it home, presumably drowning after an accident in Wisconsin’s Green Lake. But Borgwardt’s disappearance in August just never sat right with Green Lake County law enforcement. A local search and recovery non-profit, Bruce’s Legacy, joined the 54-day campaign to find the body of the father of three. After combing every corner of the lake, they uncovered a capsized kayak, a tackle box that contained his wallet, keys, and driver’s license, but no body.
In November, investigators finally shared that they’d come to believe Borgwardt’s disappearance was a ruse. Evidence pointed to the idea that Borgwardt had staged the entire thing. He erased everything on his laptop’s hard drive just after synching all of the contents to the cloud on August 11 and had also taken out a life insurance policy worth $375,000. They also came to learn that Canadian border officials had checked Borgwardt’s name the day after his disappearance. Once they were able to locate his online search history, they discovered he’d been researching ways to fake his death and had been in regular contact with a woman in Europe.
It all added up to a theory that turned out to be spot on. Borgwardt was paying attention to the media coverage all along, hoping at first that the police would just throw in the towel and pronounce the missing Wisconsin man dead. But on December 10, nearly four months after putting his plan into motion, Ryan Borgwardt flew back home to the United States and turned himself in to the police. He was arrested and charged with obstructing an officer, a misdemeanor, and later released on $500 bail.
Ryan Borgwardt mugshot. Photo: Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office
Now that Borgwardt is back in the United States, the details of how he abandoned his family only to return in time for one really awkward and painful Christmas are being revealed. According to a criminal complaint, Borgwardt flipped his kayak on the night of August 11 and left a life vest floating in the deepest part of the lake along with some of his other belongings to create the appearance that he had capsized and drowned. He used an inflatable raft to get back to shore where an e-bike was waiting for him. He rode 110 kilometers through the night from Green Lake, Wisconsin to Madison, where he then boarded Greyhound buses into Chicago, then Detroit, before eventually crossing the border into Canada.
Once in Canada, Borgwardt made his way to Toronto where he paid for a flight to Paris using a Western Union card. He told police that he used the downtime on the overseas flight to check for news of his alleged death. The final leg of his trip took Borgwardt from Paris to Georgia where he finally met with the woman he’d been in contact with.
On November 8, Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll made the public announcement of his department’s belief that the whole thing was staged. Investigators urged Borgwardt publicly to come back home and even contacted him via email at one point. Having followed the entire news frenzy, Borgwardt was finally compelled to come home. His wife has reportedly filed for separation. He might still be found responsible for the $35,000 police used in the search efforts on top of the obstructing an officer charge he will face in court next month — a maximum penalty of nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine.
