A Wisconsin Dad May Have Faked His Own Death and Run off to Europe

What started as a search for a drowned father of three has now turned into a search for a father and husband who may have faked his own death.

Wisconsin Man Reported Missing After Kayaking Trip

Ryan Borgwardt of Wisconsin is a husband and father of three. He's also a kayaker and he decided this summer to go out on a solo trip on Green Lake, northeast of Madison and exactly east of La Crosse.

ABC reports that Ryan texted his wife the night of August 11th, 2024 to let her know he was heading to shore. However, the next day, his overturned kayak and life jacket were found in the lake. Later, his tackle box was found and a fisherman found his fishing rod.

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The first thought, as you can imagine, was that Ryan had sadly drowned. The search began for his body in the lake but nothing was found.

The Associated Press writes that the "search for his body went on for more than 50 days". This included divers, sonar data and images, and the help of a non-profit called Bruce’s Legacy that "specializes in recovering drowning victims".

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But then, some suspicious things were discovered, including Ryan's name being searched by law enforcement in Canada.

Wisconsin Man May Have Faked his Own Death and Fled to Europe

ABC reports that investigators on the case discovered in early October that Ryan's name "had been checked by law enforcement in Canada on Aug. 13".

But the suspicious findings didn't stop there. They also found out that Ryan had gotten a new passport in May, claiming his had been lost or stolen. However, his family was able to find his original passport with no problem, according to The Associated Press.

They also discovered that back in January, Ryan had taken out a $375,000 life insurance policy. Why would he do all of this?

Investigators took a look at a laptop that revealed Ryan "had planned to head to Europe and tried to mislead investigators." It appears Ryan tried to hide all of that, though, because the "laptop’s hard drive had been replaced and the browsers had been cleared on the day [he] disappeared".

Also discovered on the laptop were passport photos, "inquiries about moving funds to foreign banks", and that Ryan was in communication with a woman in Uzbekistan.

The current belief by investigators is that Ryan faked his own death to leave his family and the US behind possibly for some woman in Uzbekistan. They believe he's somewhere in Eastern Europe and are urging him to come forward.