A Wisconsin father who faked his death by drowning during a kayakying trip so that he could start a new life with his mistress has been sentenced to time in jail, WISN 12 News reported.
Ryan Borgwardt, a 45-year-old father of three, was sentenced to 89 days in county jail after pleading no contest to one misdemeanor charge of obstructing an officer. Judge Mark Slate told Borgwardt during his sentencing that the time he’ll spend in jail is commensurate with “the length of time he allowed his deception to continue.” Borgwardt was also ordered to pay $30,000 to the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as compensation for resources they utilized during their search for him.
Green Lake County District Attorney Gerise LaSpisa called Borgwardt’s deception a “premeditated, selfish action” which caused “incredible damage not only to his family, but our community.”
Authorities Searched for Him for Nearly Two Months
Borgwardt was reported missing on Aug. 12, 2024, while on a kayaking trip with his wife and three young children at Green Lake, about 100 miles outside Milwaukee. Investigators found a capsized kayak and an abandoned lifejacket, leading them to conclude that Borgwardt had drowned. Officials spent nearly two months searching for the father’s body, a task which cost an estimated $50,000. After 54 days of searching, it was discovered that Borgwardt had faked his own death so that he could start a new life with an Uzbekestani woman he met online.
Related: Authorities Issue Tragic Update in Case of Hiker Missing for Weeks
“He regularly communicated with the woman, professing his love and desire to create a new life with her,” LaSpisa explained. “He reversed his vasectomy, he applied for a replacement passport, claiming that his original one, which his wife found in the family safe in its normal place, was lost or stolen.”
Borgwardt Spent Months Planning His Disappearance
Several months before his planned disappearance, Borgwardt opened a new bank account, cleared his computer, and purchased a new $375,000 life insurance policy for himself. After leaving Wisconsin, Borgwardt traveled to Paris through Canada and on to the country of Georgia. That’s where American officials found him last November before convincing him to return to the States and face charges. After he returned, Borgwardt’s wife of 22 years filed for divorce, claiming that their union was “irretrievably broken.”
“His entire plan to fake his death to devastate his family in order to serve his own selfish desires hinged on him dying in the lake and selling his death to the world,” LaSpisa said. “The defendant did not count on the determination and dedication of our law enforcement.”
