Green Lake missing kayaker; sheriff gives update on case
GREEN LAKE, Wis. - Investigators say a missing kayaker faked his own drowning death in Green Lake.
It's an investigation that reads like a movie script, and took everyone, including Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll by surprise.
"I’ve been sheriff 18-and-a-half years and 42 in law enforcement, and I’ve never had a case like this," Podoll said.
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The search for missing kayaker Ryan Borgwardt started back in August. A team spent weeks searching the water for the 45-year-old husband and father.
Keith Cormican was asked to help. He's the founder of Bruce's Legacy, a nonprofit dedicated to the search and recovery of drowning victims.
"We got called in the morning that they found his kayak," Cormican said. "We got there midday and we spent 23 days on the water. That’s a lot of days and long days put in trying to locate him."
Green Lake missing kayaker believed to have faked death: sheriff
The Green Lake County Sheriff's Office believes a kayaker, initially thought to have gone missing, may have actually faked his own death.
He used sophisticated sonar to scour the lake, but never found a body.
"That’s when I finally told the sheriff that we need to look elsewhere here because I’m not seeing him. He’s just not showing up here," Cormican said.
The sheriff said Borgwardt faked his own death and left the country.
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Investigators found the Watertown man obtained a second passport, cleared his hard drives and changed his banking information the day he disappeared, saying he'd been in contact with a woman in Uzbekistan.
"I know for certain he’s not in our lake. That I know for certain," Podoll said. "He’s in eastern Europe. We don’t know the exact location."
On Wednesday, Nov. 13, the sheriff provided an update on the case, saying they are getting help from other agencies, including the FBI.
"The amount of hours we put in, we’re tallying that up and we’re going to seek restitution," he said. "Where we’ve been and where we’re at today, we’ll find him."
The sheriff's office said they've got about a dozen tips related to this case, including one involving a TikTok video with a man who looks like Borgwardt saying he's going to Uzbekistan.
The sheriff said investigators reviewed the social media video and concluded it is not him. They are in touch with the creator of the video.
The Green Lake County Sheriff's Office is still asking for tips and information.