Green Lake kayaker faked death; warrants detail investigation
GREEN LAKE, Wis. - Now-sealed search warrants show how investigators tracked down Ryan Borgwardt, the Wisconsin kayaker accused of faking his own death and fleeing the country – and uncovered his plans with another woman.
What FOX6 found
The sheriff didn't detail much of the investigation, but FOX6 News got a look at search warrants that have since been sealed.
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Borgwardt took out a $375,000 life insurance policy in January, 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. It shows messages between Borgwardt and another woman planning a life together.
Green Lake kayaker faked death; wife files legal separation petition
The wife of Ryan Borgwardt, the Wisconsin man determined to have faked his own death and fled the country, filed a legal separation petition.
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.
The Background
Searchers plied the depths of Green Lake in August, looking for Borgwardt's body. It captivated those who call Green Lake home.
"This is a big story in a town of 1,000 (people)," said Katie Menting, development director at Thrasher Opera House.
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"You just think, for the family, how horrible that is," Carrie Nolen, owner of Sassafras coffee shop, said.
For months, people in Green Lake thought Borgwardt was dead. But court filings said the 45-year-old 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.
Borgwardt sent a video to investigators in November as they worked to convince him to return to the U.S.
On Wednesday, Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said Borgwardt returned to U.S. Soil on Dec. 10 and turned himself in later that day.
"That's going to be up to him, some day. We're not going to release that," Podoll said when asked what made Borgwardt change his mind and come home. "It was one thing that worked in our favor. We brought a dad back, on his own accord."
What's Next
Borgwardt appeared in court on Wednesday, charged with misdemeanor obstruction. A judge issued a $500 signature bond and ordered him to surrender his passport. He was then released from the jail.
Court records show Borgwardt is due back in court next month to see if he can get an attorney by then.