Another court appearance scheduled for man accused of faking his own death

GREEN LAKE (WLUK) – Another status conference will be scheduled for Ryan Borgwardt, who allegedly faked his death and went to Eastern Europe.

Borgwardt, 44, faces one misdemeanor count of obstruction. No new court date was immediately. No trial date has been set.

Borgwardt did not appear at the hearing Tuesday. In Wisconsin, defendants in misdemeanor cases can allow their attorneys to appear on their behalf at certain hearings, and that’s what happened for this session.

According to the criminal complaint, Borgwardt confirmed to law enforcement he intentionally planted physical evidence in an attempt to fake his death. He told investigators he had been looking at weather reports, planning when he was going to stage his disappearance.

“RYAN stated on August 11, 2024, he woke up in the morning and went to church with his family. After church he came home and went to his shop to prepare. RYAN stated that at some point he did go home for a little while and load up a few more things,” the complaint states.

Preparations included purchasing an e-bike and a life jacket, a hat and a backpack.

Authorities also discovered that Borgwardt had obtained a second passport, replaced the hard drive on his laptop, cleared his web browser history, synced his laptop to iCloud and changed the email addresses associated with his financial accounts on the day of his disappearance. Investigators found records of inquiries about moving funds to foreign banks, communication with a woman believed to be from Uzbekistan, a new $375,000 life insurance policy and a purchased airline gift card.

In the complaint, Borgwardt said he got to Green Lake around 10 p.m. He parked his van near Dodge Memorial Park and stashed the e-bike, helmet and backpack in the tree line near his van. He took his tacklebox, fishing pole, net, duffel bag and inflatable raft and got in his kayak.

“RYAN stated he had to come up with a plausible story how he got out into the middle of the lake... During the interview RYAN made multiple comments that he had to make this believable so that everyone, including law enforcement, would think he drowned in the lake. RYAN stated that once he got out to where he thought the deepest part was, he tossed the phone in the lake. RYAN began inflating the raft and hopped in the raft. RYAN then flipped over the kayak,” the complaint states.

Borgwardt took the e-bike to Madison and from there took a bus to Toronto, Canada. The complaint describes how he had issues getting through customs without a driver's license, saying Borgwardt felt like the Canadian Border Patrol "were suspicious of him."

He had no working phone at this point because it had died "after he sent a message to [the adult female he was going to meet with]."

Borgwardt flew to Paris, then boarded a flight to a country in Asia. It was there the adult female he was meeting came to pick him up, and the pair spent a few days together at a hotel. Investigators say he ultimately ended up living in Georgia, a country at the intersection of Europe and Asia.

“RYAN made comments that he had spent a great deal of time researching how to disappear... RYAN stated that he researched other individuals that had successfully disappeared recently... He researched lake deaths and researched how deep a body has to be without resurfacing. RYAN research a lot of other things in regard to his disappearance as well, such as travel, how to take money over to another country, and different ways he could leave the country with leaving a minimum number of clues as possible. RYAN stated, "everything hinged on me dying in the lake." RYAN also stated the "whole idea was to sell the death,” the complaint states.

The criminal complaint says Borgwardt "knew at some point" officials discovered he was not dead, but he "wanted to make that as long of a time as possible."

"RYAN stated even if we found out that he was not deceased, he wanted to add as many layers as he possibly could so that he could not be found or tracked," the complaint states.

Borgwardt would check news reports periodically while he was out of the country. He expected authorities to give up the search in Green Lake after a few weeks, and when he received an email from the sheriff's office, his "heart hit the floor."

The complaint goes on to say that authorities were able to recover from his laptop a photo of the woman he went to Europe to meet, and "knew that he made a mistake, the one mistake that he couldn't make."

Borgwardt was reported missing in August after a kayaking trip on Green Lake. For months, local, state, and federal authorities searched for the man they originally thought drowned.

Green Lake County is seeking restitution of $35,000 to $40,000.

Separately from the criminal case, Borgwardt’s wife filed to have their marriage annulled. An April 28 hearing is scheduled in that matter.