GREEN LAKE, Wis. (WFRV) – The Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office provided an update on a kayaker who was reported missing on Aug. 12.
The missing man, 45-year-old Ryan Borgwardt, was not found but has been deemed to be not in the lake and is reportedly on the run.
Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office gives update on missing kayaker case
Numerous efforts went across 54 days to search for Borgwardt. On Oct. 7, multiple law enforcement groups gathered together and decided to go in a different direction.
This direction led them to find out that Borgwardt’s name was run on Aug. 13. by law enforcement in Canada. An analysis of a laptop given to them by Borgwardt’s wife revealed that he had planned his disappearance and tried to conceal his efforts to mislead investigations.
Borgwardt allegedly replaced his hard drive and cleared the browser on the date of his disappearance, syncing it into the cloud on Aug. 11, and took photos of his passports.
Authorities say he also moved funds into a foreign bank and changed his email address while communicating with a woman from Uzbekistan.
In addition, he reportedly took out a $375,000 life insurance policy and purchased airline cards. The Sheriff’s Office said that no charges have been decided upon at this time.
At this time, officials believe him to be alive and likely in Eastern Europe.
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“Ryan, if you are viewing this, I plead that you contact us or your family,” Sheriff Mark Podoll said. “We understand that things can happen but there is a family that wants their daddy back.”
No additional details were provided. Local 5 will update this story as needed.
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