December 03, 2024
On August 12, 2024, Green Lake County Sheriff's Office published a post to their Facebook account concerning a Kayaker who went missing on Big Green Lake, Wisconsin.
The comment section was filled with locals praying for his safe return, some of whom expressed concern that the waters were unregulated and often resulted in accidents and occasionally deaths.
The missing man in question was 45-year-old husband and father of three, Ryan Borgwardt.
He was reported missing at around 8:30am on August 12, 2024.
The last communication his wife received from him was in the form a text message.
Borgwardt had gone out kayaking alone that night. In a last message to his wife, he said he was paddling back to shore, but failed to return home.
He was promptly reported missing, and police soon found his upturned kayak and lifejacket near his last known location at Big Green Lake. Big Green Lake is located in Green Lake, Wisconsin and has a maximum depth of 237 ft.
His personal possessions were also found, among them, a fishing pole, his wallet and license, and a set of keys.
Borgwardt’s vehicle was discovered by Dodge Memorial Park.
Authorities were relentless in their search for the missing man, and searched for him for 54 days in total.
Sheriff Mark Podoll of the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office said of the search: “There was nothing we could find, So we continued our search, it continued for about 54 days, eight weeks.”
A complete grid search of the lake was performed, and Bruce’s Legacy, a volunteer organization providing search and recovery operations for drowned victims, provided a boat with sonar capabilities to aid in the search.
The vessel scanned water at a depth of 70ft +. It was determined that if a body was in more shallow water that it would have floated to the surface and would have been visible.
Keith Cormican, spokesperson and founder of the Bruce‘s Legacy charity told WMTV15 that the search was not only challenging, but also costly, with a lot of resources utilised. He admitted that he wasn't convinced the missing man was even in the lake, however, encouraged by Sheriff Mark Podoll’s determination to bring the man home, kept searching. He added that Green County were lucky to have such a “big hearted” sheriff to care about the community.
Drones performed aerial searches of the area from above, and eventually cadaver dogs were on the scene.
Despite the hours of searching and available technology, no trace of Borgwardt was found.
The following month, after failing to turn up any clues, the search turned to investigative work. Sheriff Mark Podoll admitted that something about the case just didn’t sit right with him.
He soon discovered that Borgwardt’s identity had been checked by Canadian authorities on August 13, the day after the man was reported missing.
A digital forensic analysis of Borgwardt's laptop turned up some interesting leads. Investigators discovered that Borgwardt had been in communication with a woman from Uzbekistan.
They also discovered that he had erased the data on the device, cleared his browsing history, and looked into getting a new hard drive. He had also opened a new bank account and contacted the bank to ask about the logistics of transferring funds to international accounts. He had also obtained a new passport.
He then took out a $375,000 life insurance policy and purchased airline gift cards.
Believing Borgwardt had now premeditated faking his own death to run away to Europe, Sheriff Podoll put out a plea for the missing man to make contact: “Ryan, if you are viewing this I plead that you contact us or contact your family. We understand that things can happen, but there’s a family that wants their daddy back,” he said.
Podoll also commented on how distressing it has been for Borgwardt’s family, including his three children, who believed their father had died in a drowning accident, only to later discover he was in fact alive and had fled the country.
Last week, Late November, 2024, Ryan Borgwardt sent a video to the Green Lake County Sheriff's Office stating that he was “safe” and at his apartment, the location of which he did not reveal.
Investigators believe Borgwardt is somewhere in Eastern Europe, although they do not know the exact location.
According to a statement by Green Lake County Sheriff's Office, the first made contact with Borgwardt on November 11, 2024, through a "Russian speaking woman" who Borgwardt had been in contact with before he went missing.
They then asked him security-style questions only he would have the answers to, before requesting he send a video to confirm it was him and that he was safe.
Investigators have been in contact with Borgwardt since, and now know the details of the man’s journey to Europe.
Sherrif Podoll revealed that Borgwardt said he paddled back to shore on inflatable raft after tossing his phone in the lake and abandoning the kayak. From there, he rode an E-bike overnight to Madison, Wisconsin. He then took a bus to Detroit, Michigan, before crossing the border into Canada.
According to Podoll, Borgwardt confessed that he felt guilty about the amount of time and resources authorities put into finding him, and said he though the search would have ended by the second week.
Podoll has said restitutions will be pursued and are estimated to be between $35,000 - $45,000.
November 26, 2024
