Wisconsin kayaker who faked drowning and fled to Europe returned for family, sheriff says
The search for Ryan Borgwardt’s body, which lasted more than a month, cost at least $35,000
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A Wisconsin man who faked his own death by “drowning” and left his wife and three children to go to Eastern Europe flew back to the U.S. “willingly” because of his family, police said.
Ryan Borgwardt, 45, was booked into the Green Lake County Jail on Tuesday afternoon after disappearing from his home in Watertown for three months on August 12.
He was initially presumed dead when his abandoned overturned kayak was discovered in Green Lake.
Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll confirmed at a press conference on Wednesday morning that Borgwardt was in communication with officers and decided to return home “on his own accord.”
When pressed about what compelled Borgwardt to return, Podoll replied: “His family, I guess.”
Borgwardt is awaiting his first court appearance. Multiple charges, including obstruction, were referred to the district attorney’s office, Poddoll said, but he refused to specify the other charges.
Podoll would not disclose which country Borgwardt fled to or which U.S. airport he flew back into.
At a press conference last month, Podoll said Borgwardt began communicating with authorities on November 11 after disappearing for three months but that he hadn’t committed to returning to Wisconsin.
Podoll said police were "pulling at his heartstrings” to come home.
Borgwardt told authorities last month that he faked his death because of “personal matters,” the sheriff said.
He told them that in mid-August he traveled about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from his home in Watertown to Green Lake, where he overturned his kayak, dumped his phone and then paddled an inflatable boat to shore. He said he picked that lake because it’s the deepest in Wisconsin.
After leaving the lake, he rode an electric bike about 70 miles (110 kilometers) through the night to Madison, the sheriff said. From there, he said he took a bus to Detroit, then boarded a bus to Canada and got on a plane.
The sheriff said at the time that investigators were working to verify Borgwardt’s description of what happened.
The sheriff’s office has said the search for Borgwardt’s body, which lasted more than a month, cost at least $35,000. The sheriff said that Borgwardt told authorities that he didn’t expect the search to last more than two weeks.