Green Lake kayaker faked death, Borgwardt sentenced to jail

GREEN LAKE, Wis. - Ryan Borgwardt, the Wisconsin kayaker accused of faking his own death on Green Lake and fleeing the country, pleaded no contest and was sentenced to jail on Tuesday, Aug. 26.

Ryan Borgwardt sentenced

In Court:

Green Lake County prosecutors charged Borgwardt last year with one count of misdemeanor obstructing an officer. He pleaded no contest to that charge on Tuesday. He was then sentenced to 89 days in the Green Lake County Jail – the same number of days "he allowed his deception to continue," the judge said – and granted Huber privileges.

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Court filings state the 45-year-old intended to mislead investigators by "intentionally" leaving items at Green Lake to make it seem as though he had drowned. 

Faked death investigation

The backstory:

For months, people thought Borgwardt was dead. But court filings said the father of three and husband from Watertown was nearly 6,000 miles away at a hotel in the country of Georgia – alive, with a woman and $5,500.

Timeline:

Borgwardt was reported missing on Aug. 12, 2024. Searches of Green Lake lasted more than a month and cost roughly $40,000. The sheriff's office later suspected he had faked his own death – spurring a new investigation.

On Nov. 8, Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said investigators began to use various data points, such as phone numbers and email addresses, in an effort to get in contact with Borgwardt.

Investigators contacted a woman who spoke Russian and on Nov. 11, through her, they contacted Borgwardt. In an effort to verify if he was safe, they asked him a number of personal questions and asked him to provide a video of himself – which he did.

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What they're saying:

In November, Podoll said Borgwardt told investigators his plan.

Borgwardt claimed he stashed an e-bike near the Green Lake boat launch and paddled his kayak and a child-sized inflatable boat onto the lake. He overturned the kayak, dumped his phone in the water and paddled the inflatable boat to shore. He then got on the e-bike and rode through the night to Madison, where he got on a bus to Detroit and then the Canadian border. He rode the bus to an airport, where he got on a plane. 

Further, the sheriff said Borgwardt told investigators he picked Green Lake because it is the deepest lake in Wisconsin.

Investigators previously learned Borgwardt obtained a second passport, cleared his hard drives and browser history and changed his banking information on the day of his disappearance. He also took out a $375,000 life insurance policy and purchased an airline gift card.

As to why Borgwardt tried to stage his death, the sheriff would only say he had a personal matter going on and that this was the "right thing" to do.

What FOX6 found

Dig deeper:

The sheriff didn't detail much of the investigation, but FOX6 News got a look at now-sealed search warrants that show how investigators tracked down Borgwardt.

Borgwardt took out a $375,000 life insurance policy in January 2024, months before his disappearance. Investigators learned he said he wanted to protect his family in case something happened to him.

A text file on Borgwardt's computer named "promise" dates back to at least early April 2024. It shows messages between Borgwardt and another woman planning a life together.

Investigators learned at the time of Borgwardt's disappearance he had thousands of dollars of credit card debt hidden from his family. 

Court filings said Borgwardt applied for a second passport in April. He used that passport to enter Canada through the Detroit-Windsor tunnel on Aug. 12 – the day after he went missing.

Borgwardt changed his banking information, and cleared his hard drive – or so he thought. Investigators found those messages, and the name of a woman, which eventually led to Borgwardt.