On the morning of August 12, Ryan Borgwardt’s wife reached out to authorities, reporting that her husband hadn’t returned from a kayaking trip on Green Lake the previous night and wasn’t responding to his phone.
The Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office initiated a search around 5:32 p.m., concentrating on Borgwardt’s last known location at Green Lake. Deputies quickly found his vehicle and trailer parked near Dodge Memorial Park.
About an hour later, authorities found a capsized kayak in the western part of the lake, where the water is approximately 220 feet deep.
They discovered the life jacket still attached to the kayak, and volunteers joined deputies in the search for Borgwardt.
Twenty-four hours into the search, crews utilized a drone and boats to conduct a grid search of the lake. As efforts progressed, Sheriff Mark Podoll announced they were concentrating on the lake’s deepest sections, covering hundreds of acres with the help of Bruce’s Legacy, a nonprofit that specializes in search and recovery.
The sheriff indicated they were now searching for a body, assuming Borgwardt had drowned in the lake. Three cadaver dogs and a dive team were brought in to aid recovery efforts.
Sheriff Podoll and his team then redirected their focus to reassess the investigation from the start. They soon found out that Canadian law enforcement had queried Borgwardt’s name on August 13. Although Borgwardt’s passport was initially located at his home, investigators discovered he had been issued a new passport on May 22 after reporting the original was lost.
Borgwardt’s wife, Emily, provided his laptop for examination. A digital forensic analysis uncovered that Borgwardt had replaced the hard drive and erased all browser history the day he vanished. Investigators now believe he is in Europe.
Further findings showed Borgwardt transferred funds to a foreign bank, changed his email address, and had been communicating with a woman from Uzbekistan before his disappearance.
The investigation also revealed that he had taken out a $375,000 life insurance policy seven months before vanishing and had purchased airline cards. Sheriff Podoll stated, after all they had uncovered, that Borgwardt is “not in our lake.”
Note: After our Crime Stories broadcast, the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office posted this message on its Facebook page: “We do not believe the TikTok video is Ryan. We are in contact with the interviewer. Thank you to all for alerting us of his existence. We have verified this is not Ryan by contacting people who know Ryan.”
Borgwardt returned to the US and was charged. He now learns his fate.
Joining Nancy Grace today:
Additional Guests
- Gregory Morse – Partner at the law firm of King Morse, PLLC. Current CJA counsel (Southern District of Florida), Former West Palm Beach Public Defender’s Office. Author: “The Untested”
- Keith Cormican – Underwater Search and Recovery Expert. Director, Bruce’s Legac; Searched for 23 days for Ryan in Green Lake
“Crime Stories with Nancy Grace” on Fox Nation is also a national radio show on SiriusXM channel 111, airing for two hours daily starting at 12 p.m. EST. You can also subscribe and download the daily podcasts at iHeart Podcasts.
[Feature Photo: Ryan Borgwardt/Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
