Green Lake missing kayaker believed to have faked death: sheriff

GREEN LAKE, Wis. - The Green Lake County Sheriff's Office on Friday announced it believes a kayaker, initially thought to have gone missing this summer, may have actually faked his own death.

Ryan Borgwardt, 45, was reported missing on Aug. 12. According to the sheriff's office, via WLUK-TV, an early search in and around Green Lake located Borgwardt's kayak, life jacket and fishing pole; his vehicle was at the boat launch. Searches continued for more than a month.

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Now, investigators have learned Borgwardt obtained a second passport, cleared his hard drives and browser history and changed his banking information on the day of his disappearance. He also took out a $375,000 life insurance policy and purchased an airline gift card.

"Due to these discoveries of the new evidence, we were sure that Ryan was not in our lake," Sheriff Mark Podoll said.

Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll

Borgwardt was said to be in contact with a woman from Uzbekistan, a country of roughly 36 million people in Central Asia. 

The sheriff's office is calling for Borgwardt to come home to his family. He will likely have to pay restitution for the hundreds of hours crews spent searching for him.