It’s been over a year since husband and Wisconsin dad of three Ryan Borgwardt faked his own death to run away with a woman he met online across the world, and we’re still getting pieces to the puzzle. Recently, the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office filed new case documents that contained text messages he sent to his wife, Emily, the night he disappeared, according to the Associated Press.
The Text Exchange
The evening of his “disappearance” began with a message he sent to his wife at 10:36 p.m. about taking out the kayak for a late-night trip to allegedly see the Northern Lights. It read simply, “May have snuck out on a lake.”
Emily Borgwardt responded, “That would have been nice to know. I was beginning to wonder why you weren’t home.”
After he apologized, she retorted, “Nothing new. I should be used to it by now. So many nights I have no idea where you are when it’s late.”
He then reportedly told her that he promised to work on their communication before adding that the Northern Lights were pink. His concluding text read, “I love you…. goodnight.”
His then-wife responded that she loved him too and told him to be safe. Around 10:46 p.m., he sent a message alerting her that he was heading back to shore. By 5:12 a.m., the following morning, she began frantically texting him.
Where Did Ryan Borgwardt Disappear To?
Between those messages, the father and husband was putting long-laid plans into action. After driving 50 miles to Green Lake to go “kayaking,” People reported, he stashed an e-bike nearby and packed along a child-sized raft. He overturned his kayak to make it look as if an accident had occurred, and used the raft to paddle to shore. From there, he rode his e-bike through the night to Madison and got on a bus to Detroit. He took that to the border of Canada and hopped on a plane to meet a woman from Uzbekistan.
He also reportedly took out a $375,000 life insurance policy in January of that year to perhaps take care of his family in his absence.
Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll, announced that officers discovered Ryan Borgwardt was alive and well in Eastern Europe and “willingly” returned in December 2024 after explaining his plan to authorities, according to The Mirror. In May 2024, his wife officially divorced him. He was sentenced to 89 days in jail and ordered to repay authorities $30,000 in police costs.
