Authorities in Wisconsin announced Thursday that they have successfully contacted the missing father of three. It is believed that the father “staged his death” and fled the country in August, but his exact whereabouts are still unknown.
Ryan Borgward's family reported him missing on August 12th when he did not return home. Wisconsin officials and volunteers They searched for months after finding the 45-year-old's capsized kayak on Green Lake that same Monday.
On November 8, nearly three months after her disappearance, Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podol announced that a digital forensic analysis of Borgwald's computer showed her missing father and husband were alive and well “somewhere in Europe.” The authorities have determined that this is highly likely.
Now, Podol is sharing new information about how exactly Borgwald staged his disappearance and what status his disappearance case currently stands.
Missing father of three may have faked death and fled to 'somewhere in Europe': officials
The sheriff said Borgwald “purchased a $300,000 life insurance policy and purchased an airline card in January,” leading officials to believe that Borgwald is still alive somewhere, not in the United States. He says he believes there is. (Facebook)
“He staged his death, but unfortunately one of the things he said was that he didn't expect the search for him to take more than two weeks. Well, I hate to say he picked the wrong sheriff, the wrong sheriff, but the department.
“I don't want to say he picked the wrong sheriff and the wrong department.”
The sheriff's office announced at a Thursday news conference that earlier this month, a member of the sheriff's office contacted a Russian-speaking woman who was able to contact Borgwald. Podol later added that the missing father and the Russian-speaking woman appeared to have met on the Internet.
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“That was a big turning point,” Podol said of his encounter with the woman.
After making contact with Borgwald through the woman, the sheriff's office sent a video of himself to prove that he was safe, as their primary concern up until then was that he was well and not in danger. I asked.
Through digital forensic analysis of Borgwald's computer, authorities determined that her missing father and husband were likely alive “somewhere in Europe.” (Facebook)
Mr. Borgwald responded, and Mr. Podor loudly played his own video at Thursday's press conference. In the video, Ryan can be heard calmly giving his name, date and time, then saying, “I'm safe.”
Since then, the sheriff's office has been in “nearly daily contact with Ryan,” Podol said.
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Borgwald later told police that on August 12, the day he disappeared, he parked his electric bicycle near Green Lake, one of the deepest lakes in Wisconsin, and paddled into the lake in a kayak with a fishing rod and cell phone. I explained that I had put it out. and a child-sized inflatable boat. He dumped his phone and fishing rod in the lake, got into a rubber dinghy, flipped the kayak over, and paddled to shore, where he rode his electric bike to a bus stop in Detroit. From Detroit, we headed to the Canadian border.
Wisconsin authorities believe Ryan Borgward faked his own death in August. (Bruce Legacy/Facebook)
Earlier this month, the sheriff's office said Borgwald may have gone to a European country, but clarified on Thursday that the 45-year-old's exact whereabouts remained unknown.
Podol recorded a Nov. 8 press conference saying Green Lake fishermen had “taken fishing rods,” which authorities had collected as evidence, and that Borgwald's wife identified the rods as belonging to her husband. mentioned in. Fox 11.
“We feel this was Ryan's way to tell the whole country how he did it.”
“We are continuing to verify this information and trying to put the dots together,” the sheriff explained Thursday. “We feel that this was Ryan's way of telling the whole country how he was doing things, with the correspondence expressing the importance of his decision to return home and clean up the mess he had caused. there is.”
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authority determined through digital forensic analysis Before her disappearance, Ms. Borgwald replaced her laptop's hard drive, erased her browser history on the day she disappeared, took a photo of her passport, sent money to a foreign bank, changed her email address, and communicated with a person. “I was doing it,” he said. I’m a woman from Uzbekistan,” Podol said on Nov. 8, FOX 11 reported.
The investigation into Borgwald's disappearance continues and “more people will be involved,” the sheriff said. (FOX11)
Authorities had not issued a warrant for Borgwald's arrest as of Thursday, and Podol said there would be no need to file one if Borgwald decided to “cooperate.”
The sheriff's office has also not filed criminal charges against Borgwald, but local authorities are currently working with federal partners to determine how to proceed with potential charges if warranted. The FBI is also working on communications with foreign countries.
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“He needs to return home to his children. If he chooses not to return, it is of his own free will and I think the message is very clear,” Podol said. .
Green Lake County will seek restitution in the range of $35,000 to $40,000 related to funding for the ongoing effort to find Borgwald.
