Business Strategy

A Wisconsin kayaker who has been missing for months and was presumed dead likely faked his own death and fled to Europe, investigators said Friday.Ryan Borgwardt, 44, vanished after a trip to Green Lake on Aug. 12. Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said Borgwardt’s family reported him missing after he hadn’t returned from a kayaking trip to the area. It is about one hour north of where Borgwardt and his family live. “There was nothing we could find, so we continued our search. And it continued for 54 days,” Podoll said in a news conference Friday. Through repeated searches, investigators found an overturned kayak and life vest floating in the water, along with Borgwardt’s fishing gear on shore nearby. Keith Cormican volunteered with his sonar equipment to help search. Cormican started the nonprofit Bruce’s Legacy in honor of his brother Bruce, who drowned in 1995. Cormican has helped to recover the bodies of more than 50 drowning victims since he founded the nonprofit, and much of his work he does for free.In the search for Borgwardt, Cormican said he broke multiple pieces of equipment.”Early into the search, I went through $10,000 in repairs,” Cormican said.Cormican also said he thought something was strange about Borgwardt’s disappearance early on in the search.”Certainly a week into it I was starting to question whether he was really there or not,” Cormican said.”He said to me, ‘Sheriff, I’ve done a lot of these searches, and I can’t find him,'” Podoll said of his conversation with Cormican.In October, Podoll said he found out law enforcement in Canada ran Borgwardt’s passport Aug. 13, the day after he disappeared.”Wow. Yeah. That was something we didn’t expect,” Podoll said.And the case unraveled from there. Investigators said a search of Borgwardt’s laptop showed the 44-year-old father moved money into foreign banks, bought an airline gift card, took out a life insurance policy and had been communicating with a woman from Uzbekistan.”Ryan, if you’re watching this, I’m pleading that you contact us or contact your family. We understand that things can happen, but there’s a family that wants their daddy back,” Podoll said in front of the press Friday. Law enforcement did not specify exactly where they think Borgwardt is, but they did say they are trying to make contact with him, determine what crimes if any he committed, and file a lawsuit against him for the wasted county resources.