Wisconsin man taken into police custody after being accused of faking own death
GREEN LAKE, Wis. (CBS) - A kayaker accused of faking his death and fleeing to Europe was back in Wisconsin and in police custody on Wednesday.
According to court records, Ryan Borgwardt, 45, was booked into the Green Lake County Jail late Tuesday afternoon. Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll confirmed Wednesday morning that Borgwardt returned to the U.S. "on his own" after apparently faking faking his death and fleeing to Eastern Europe.
"He got on an airplane and landed in the United States," Podoll said.
Borgwardt went missing on Aug. 12 while kayaking in Green Lake, about 50 miles northeast of Wisconsin Dells. Crews spent 54 days searching the lake — which is more than 200 feet deep at points — expecting to find a body.
No body was ever found, but investigators did find evidence that Borgwardt had moved money into foreign accounts and ended up in Europe.
Podoll said last month that Borgwardt had admitted to staging his disappearance by overturning his kayak, and then padding back to shore in a child-size inflatable boat, riding his e-bike to a bus station, bussing from Detroit to Canada and then flying to Europe.
Podoll said investigators discovered in early October that Borgwardt had entered Canada a day after his disappearance. He synced his laptop to the cloud a few days earlier, swapped out his hard drive and cleared his search history.
Authorities also determined that Borgwardt had taken out a $375,000 life insurance policy for his family in January, transferred money into a foreign bank, set up a new email address and purchased airline cards. Podoll said Borgwardt had been in contact with a woman living in Uzbekistan, and they were eventually able to contact him via a Russian-speaking woman.
At a news conference Wednesday morning, Podoll declined to provide any further details on the investigation, other than to say Borgwardt had returned to the U.S. on his own, and was cooperating with police.
"We brought a dad back on his own accord," Podoll said.
Podoll declined to say if Borgwardt has been in contact with his family since returning to the U.S., but the sheriff said authorities have spoken to the family.
"I can only imagine how they feel," he said.
Podoll said Borgwardt is expected to make his first court appearance as soon as Wednesday on charges including obstruction. The sheriff said authorities also would seek to have Borgwardt reimburse Green Lake County for the cost of the search.
