A Wisconsin father of three faked his disappearance in a kayaking incident, police say

A Wisconsin man who allegedly drowned while kayaking in a lake is now believed to have faked his disappearance and fled to Europe, WBAY reports.

Ryan Borgwardt, a 45-year-old father of three, was reported missing by his family on August 12, police said. He had not yet returned home from a kayaking trip on Green Lake in Green Lake County, Wisconsin. An extensive eight-week search of the lake uncovered an overturned kayak and a life jacket believed to be Borgwardt’s.

The Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office then learned that Borgwardt’s name had been checked by Canadian law enforcement on Aug. 13, police said. They also discovered that he had reported his passport lost or stolen and had received a new one in May. A forensic analysis of Borgwardt’s laptop revealed evidence that he had planned an escape to Europe and misled investigators, including new life insurance, requests for money transfers to foreign banks, changed email addresses to bank accounts, communications with a Woman from Uzbekistan, purchasing an airline gift card and deleting browser history on the day of the disappearance, police said.

Search efforts at Green Lake were called off, police said. Anyone with information about Borgwardt’s escape and his whereabouts is asked to contact the sheriff’s office at 920-294-4134, extension 1162.