GREEN LAKE COUNTY, Wis. — The Wisconsin man accused of faking his own death in a kayaking incident this summer has been taken into custody, online jail records appear to show.
Officials with the Green Lake County Sheriff's Office said Ryan Borgwardt went kayaking on Aug. 11 on Green Lake and never returned home. Deputies found his kayak overturned.
The search for Borgwardt in the lake went on for almost a month. Authorities eventually learned Borgwardt’s name had been checked by Canadian law enforcement on August 13 with help from the Mid-States Organized Crime Information Center. Then they learned Borgwardt reported his passport was missing and got another on May 22. His family found his original passport.
Authorities also learned Borgwardt allegedly was talking with a woman from Uzbekistan, and he took out a $375,000 life insurance policy in January. Investigators believe he faked his own death and ran away to Europe.
Online records through the Wisconsin statewide Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE) system show a man named Ryan Borgwardt is in custody in the Green Lake County Jail as of Dec. 10.
