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 they will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday to discuss developments in the case of Ryan Borgwardt, who went kayaking on Aug. 11 on Green Lake and never returned home. Deputies later found his kayak overturned.
The search for Borgwardt went on for almost a month, consuming both public and private resources as deputies and volunteers combed the surface of Green Lake and dove its depths, trying to find the missing man.
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. They then learned Borgwardt reported his passport was missing and got another on May 22. His family found his original passport.
Investigators also learned that Borgwardt was allegedly communicating with a woman from Uzbekistan, and he took out a $375,000 life insurance policy in January. They came to believe he faked his own death and willingly ran away to Europe.
Online records through the Wisconsin statewide Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE) system show Ryan Borgwardt has been held in the Green Lake County Jail as of Dec. 10.
KARE 11 is planning to carry Wednesday's 10 a.m. news briefing live on our YouTube channel, with links on our other social media platforms.
