Wisconsin kayaker accused of faking his own drowning is alive in Europe, officials say

By Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN

(CNN) — Ryan Borgwardt, a Wisconsin kayaker accused of faking his own drowning and fleeing the country, is alive somewhere in Eastern Europe and has been talking to investigators, officials said. But it’s still unclear whether he will ever return home to his wife and three children.

“Great news: We know that he’s alive and well,” Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said in a news conference Thursday. “The bad news is, we do not know where, exactly, Ryan is and he has not yet decided to return home.”

The 44-year-old was reported missing on August 12 after failing to come back from a fishing trip on Green Lake, about an hour north of his home in Watertown, Wisconsin. A massive seven-week effort to scour the bottom of the lake turned up no sign of Borgwardt, and officials began uncovering evidence he had fled to Europe via Canada.

Investigators finally made contact with Borgwardt on November 11 and have been communicating with him almost daily, Podoll said. He has still not spoken to his family.

In a video sent to officials last week, Borgwardt appeared in a nondescript room and said, “I am in my apartment. I am safe, secure, no problem.”

Borgwardt told investigators he executed his plan by stashing an electric bike near the lake’s boat launch, then paddling onto the water with a kayak and a child-sized inflatable boat, Podoll said. He then overturned his kayak, tossed his phone into the lake and paddled back to shore in the inflatable boat, the sheriff recounted.

Once ashore, Borgwardt said he rode the bicycle through the night about 80 miles to Madison, where he boarded a bus to Detroit, Podoll said. Borgwardt eventually crossed the Canadian border and boarded a flight to Europe, he added, noting investigators are still trying to verify the story.

Before his disappearance, Borgwardt had transferred funds to a foreign bank account, changed his email and communicated with a woman in Uzbekistan, according to Podoll.

Investigators were ultimately able to contact Borgwardt through a Russian-speaking woman, Podoll said, though he declined to say whether she was the woman he had been communicating with in Uzbekistan or whether he is currently with her.

In January, Borgwardt took out a $375,000 life insurance policy, which Podoll said was intended to help his family.

Investigators have still not shared what may have motivated the father to abandon his family and everything he knew. Podoll said he did it for “a number of reasons.”

“In our communications, we are expressing the importance of his decision to return home and clean up the mess that he has created,” Podoll said. He added Borgwardt has expressed regret for how he has hurt his family and “also feels bad about the amount of hours that we have put in the community.”

The massive search for Borgwardt was a costly and emotionally taxing endeavor for both his family and search crews, the sheriff said, and authorities are intent on holding him accountable for the toll his actions have caused.

The sheriff’s office is preparing to charge Borgwardt with obstruction of justice, though the charges have yet to be filed, Podoll said. The county will also be seeking up to $40,000 of “restitution” to compensate for the search, including equipment and wages, he said.

Borgwardt told investigators that he thought they would stop searching for him after about two weeks, officials said. He chose Green Lake, in part, because it is the deepest natural lake in Wisconsin.

“He picked the wrong sheriff and the wrong department,” Podoll said.

Borgwardt’s family is “very emotional” after whiplashing between mourning him and coming to terms with the idea that he may have abandoned them, the sheriff said on “CNN News Central” Friday afternoon.

“He expressed concerns that if he does come back, it’s going to be hard to live (and that) no one will accept him. But the community has stated before that they’re willing to forgive,” Podoll said.

The family has told authorities they want Borgwardt to return home, and officials have been begging him to come back to US soil, an emotional Podoll said Thursday.

“Christmas is coming, and what better gift he could give his kids to be there for Christmas with them,” the sheriff said, his voice breaking.

The search for Borgwardt

On the morning of August 12, Borgwardt’s capsized kayak was found in the lake and his vehicle, along with a trailer, was found at a nearby park, Podoll said.

The following day, two fishermen casting along the lake found a fishing rod that belonged to Borgwardt, his wife told officials. A tackle box was found later that day with several of Borgwardt’s belongings: a set of keys, a wallet and his license.

Podoll said his team discovered months later that Canadian officials “ran” Borgwardt’s passport on the same day he crossed into Canada, and officials have reason to believe he used a new passport.

The discovery that Borgwardt might have left the country prompted investigators to search his computer, according to Podoll.

Through a digital forensic analysis, investigators found that Borgwardt replaced the hard drive on his laptop and cleared his browser history on the day of his disappearance, Podoll said.

The FBI, Department of Homeland Security and the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigations are assisting investigators, the sheriff said.

Though the county will seek restitution for the taxpayer-funded search efforts, that does not include the thousands of dollars spent by the nonprofit Bruce’s Legacy, which helped in the dive search.

Keith Cormican, director of Bruce’s Legacy, told CNN he spent nearly 30 days working on the case. The first two weeks of the search alone will cost him about $10,000 due to damaged equipment and other expenses, he said.

“My success rate is pretty good,” Cormican told CNN. “To not be able to find him … really had me questioning my abilities. And I lost a lot of sleep over it.”

CNN’s Amanda Musa contributed to this report.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the official who spoke during Thursday’s news conference. It was Sheriff Mark Podoll.

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