Ryan Borgwardt missing Watertown, Wisconsin family man resurfaces in released video, telling police that he is fine and surviving along with how he pulled off his fake death with no intentions of returning to the U.S as his wife & 3 kids plead for his return.
A Wisconsin man who faked his own death, and in the process ditching his family and fleeing to Eastern Europe has revealed to police how he pulled off his feat— while declining to say if he will return to the United States.
Father-of-three Ryan Borgwardt, 45, vanished during a kayaking trip in August, leaving his forlorn family fearing the worst after he failed to come home from Green Lake later that evening.
As time passed and investigators were unable to recover the missing man’s body in the lake, investigators on a hunch began to go through the man’s laptop, which despite previous searches being removed, were still able to piece together the man’s movements, including him applying for a new passport and being in communication with a woman from Uzbekistan whom he had recently met online.
The perfect escape plan?
Authorities also discovered Borgwardt having also taken out a $375,000 life insurance policy in January for his family, Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said during a news conference last week.
Since the man’s story coming to national attention, Borgwardt this week opened up to police about how and why he faked his drowning demise.
During the ‘doomed’ water trip, Borgwardt overturned his kayak, threw his phone into the water and paddled an inflatable boat to shore, the fleeing ‘family’ man told WYFF.
From there, Borgwardt revealed riding an electric bike 70 miles south to the state capitol, where he boarded a bus for Detroit, then another to Canada, before getting on on a plane (with his new passport) for Eastern Europe.
Borgwardt who has spoken to police almost every day since Nov. 11 — even sent authorities a video of himself from his new digs according to Sheriff Podoll.
‘I’m safe and secure, no problem,’ Borgwardt said in the cellphone video. ‘I hope this works.’
Cops are still verifying Borgwardt’s account but they said they’re happy he’s OK.
Will missing Wisconsin family man return to the United States?
‘The great news is we know that he is alive and well,’ Podoll said. ‘The bad news is we don’t know where Ryan exactly is, and he has not yet decided to return home.’
Nevertheless, should Borgwarth choose to come home, he now faces being charged with a crime for obstructing the investigation into his disappearance. To date Podoll concedes no charges to date have been filed yet.
Meanwhile, cops are continuing to try to convince the ‘missing’ husband and father to three to come back to his family.
‘Christmas is coming,’ Podoll said. ‘And what better gift could your kids get than to be there for Christmas?’
To date it remained unclear if the vanished husband and dad had reached out to his wife and three kids since his story breaking.
Authorities are at a loss as to how the US citizen is managing to support himself in his new home country…
