New York: A husband and father of three accused of staging a kayaking accident to fake his death, abandon his family and start a new life has returned to the United States and been arrested after sheriff’s investigators turned his alleged gambit into a guilt trip.
Ryan Borgwardt, 45, has been charged with obstructing an officer, a misdemeanour punishable by up to nine months in jail and a $US10,000 ($16,000) fine, a day after he turned himself in to the Green County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin and was arrested, according to authorities and court records.
During Borgwardt’s court appearance on Thursday (AEDT), Green Lake County Circuit Court Judge Mark Slate entered a not guilty plea for him and gave him a personal recognisance bond in exchange for Borgwardt’s promise to return for future court appearances.
Ryan Borgwardt appears in a Green Lake County courtroom on December 11.
Ryan Borgwardt appears in a Green Lake County courtroom on December 11.Credit: AP
Borgwardt did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Borgwardt’s arrest is the most recent twist in a bizarre saga that started in August when he didn’t return from a Sunday kayaking trip to Green Lake, which spans some 3000 hectares and is 67 metres deep in some spots. His disappearance sparked a search that found his kayak, vehicle and driver’s licence, but not his body, despite weeks of looking. Instead, investigators determined he had faked his death, announcing their findings on November 8 at a news conference.
At the same time, sheriff’s investigations emailed Borgwardt a message that included a photo of a woman he’d gone to meet, one with whom he’d been secretly communicating for months. His “heart hit the floor … and knew that he made a mistake”, according to a criminal complaint.
Borgwardt started communicating with the investigators, a back-and-forth that would continue for more than a month and during which he would tell them about his plans and how they had all unravelled, according to the complaint.
Borgwardt told investigators he had spent months planning, the complaint states. In January, he allegedly took out a $US375,000 life insurance policy. He also allegedly researched how to disappear, stage a death and make money in other countries.
“Everything hinged on me dying in the lake,” Borgwardt told investigators, according to the complaint. The “whole idea was to sell the death”.
Around August 8, with the stage set, Borgwardt checked the weather forecast, noting Sunday looked promising, which would allow him to more easily carry out the part of his plan that required him to travel long distances by bicycle, the complaint states.
On August 11, he attended church with his family and then returned home to prepare, loading up an e-bicycle he had bought a few weeks earlier and stashed in his shop, according to the complaint. Worried about surveillance cameras, he allegedly pulled his trailer to the building so they wouldn’t capture footage of the secret bike.
After buying a hat and backpack at Walmart and visiting a friend’s house, Borgwardt arrived at Green Lake about 10pm, the complaint states. He allegedly dodged security checks; stashed the e-bike, helmet and backpack in some trees; and then kayaked into the lake.
Keith Cormican, founder of Bruce’s Legacy, a non-profit organisation that specialises in recovering drowning victims, searches the waters of Green Lake for missing kayaker Ryan Borgwardt in September.
Keith Cormican, founder of Bruce’s Legacy, a non-profit organisation that specialises in recovering drowning victims, searches the waters of Green Lake for missing kayaker Ryan Borgwardt in September.Credit: AP
Borgwardt eventually went to what he thought was the deepest part of the lake, tossed his phone into the water, blew up an inflatable raft and then transferred to that vessel before flipping over his kayak to make it look like it had capsized in an accident, the complaint alleges. For good measure, he also tossed his fishing pole and tackle box, which had his wallet and keys in it, the complaint states.
An image of Ryan Borgwardt provided by law enforcement.
An image of Ryan Borgwardt provided by law enforcement.Credit: Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office via The New York Times
After making it to shore, Borgwardt hopped on his e-bike and peddled through the night, using back roads to travel the roughly 110 kilometres to Madison, swapping out the bike’s battery for a spare he had in reserve, according to the complaint. During his alleged trip, he noted when the clock hit 5am, the time his wife normally woke up.
“He was worried because now things were in motion and there was no going back,” the complaint states.
Once in the Madison area, Borgwardt allegedly ditched the e-bike, some clothes and the inflatable raft at a park, then walked to a Greyhound stop where he caught a bus that took him through Chicago and Detroit before heading to the Canadian border. There, Canadian authorities separated him from the rest of the passengers because, while he produced a passport, he had no driver’s licence, the complaint states. Despite their suspicions, they ultimately let him into the country, according to the complaint.
As planned, Borgwardt arrived at the Toronto airport, where he used a Western Union card to buy an Air France ticket and fly to Paris, the complaint states. While in flight, he allegedly fired up his computer to check if there was any news back home.
“He did remember seeing something about the missing kayaker and believes that his plan had worked,” the complaint alleges.
Upon landing in Paris, Borgwardt boarded another flight and eventually made it to the former Soviet republic of Georgia, where the woman he had been communicating with for months picked him up, the complaint states. They stayed at a hotel for a couple of days, it adds.
As the weeks passed, Borgwardt checked every couple of days for news back in Wisconsin, sometimes using a VPN to hide his location, according to the complaint. He assumed sheriff’s investigators would search for his body for a couple of weeks and then give up, it states.
Then came the email from the sheriff’s office that made Borgwardt’s heart drop and the November 8 news conference during which Podoll publicly announced that Borgwardt had staged his death because “he felt this was the right thing to do”.
A photo provided by the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office shows one of the boats used to conduct the search for a missing kayaker.
A photo provided by the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office shows one of the boats used to conduct the search for a missing kayaker.Credit: County Sheriff’s Office via The New York Times
“He was going to just try to make things better, in his mind,” the sheriff said as he pleaded with Borgwardt to contact his family.
Borgwardt eventually sent authorities a 25-second proof-of-life video in which he said, “I am safe, secure – no problem”, before panning the camera to show what he said was his apartment.
With Borgwardt out of his reach, the sheriff ended a follow-up November 21 news conference vowing to keep pulling at his heartstrings to get him to return voluntarily. Podoll said Borgwardt’s wife and children still very much wanted their husband and father in their lives.
“Christmas is coming,” Podoll said, his voice straining, “and what better gift could he give his kids than to be there for Christmas?”
Podoll declined to talk about the conversations between investigators and Borgwardt that had happened in the nearly three weeks since his last news conference, or what ultimately compelled Borgwardt to return to the US. But, the sheriff added, the important part is that he did return.
“We brought a dad back,” Podoll said, “on his own accord.”
The Washington Post
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