Ryan Borgwardt, 44, disappeared in August. This father from Watertown, Wisconsin, had never returned from a kayaking trip on a lake. Mobilization of volunteers, divers, drones, sonars, corpse detection dogs: everything had been done to find the man who was thought to be drowned. But three months later, the Green Lake sheriff, in charge of the investigation, is no longer certain that Ryan Borgwardt is dead. Nor really disappeared, he revealed during a press conference last week.
Only his capsized kayak, his fishing rod, his car, his wallet and his keys were found. After 54 days of searching, reports CNN, and in the absence of a body, even having surveyed the entire lake, the investigators changed their search angle, focusing on the personal life of the missing person.
It was then discovered that Ryan Borgwardt had replaced his computer's hard drive and erased his browsing history on the day of his disappearance. “We discovered that he had transferred funds to a foreign bank, changed his email address and (communicated) with a woman in Uzbekistan,” said Green Lake Sheriff Mark Podoll. He took out $375,000 in life insurance in January and purchased airline cards. »
And then there's his passport. The investigators will learn it much later: the Canadian authorities saw Borgwardt's passport crossing their border on the day of the American's disappearance.
According to Green Lake County police, the father of three is now in Uzbekistan. But investigators were unable to determine who the woman he joined there was. “Our investigation has many stages,” said Mark Podoll. It's a puzzle we're putting together… We have many pieces, but we still have many more to find. »
Is it illegal to fake your disappearance to abandon your family? So far, no charges have been filed against Ryan Borgwardt, according to the sheriff's office to CNN. Authorities are still determining whether a crime was committed. The deceased will still be asked to “reimburse expenses related to research financed by taxpayers”.
The sheriff, quoted by CNN, addresses the father: “Ryan, if you are watching this, please contact us or contact your family, call Mark Podoll. We understand that things can happen, but there is a family that wants their dad back. »
