Man who faked his own death in Green Lake sentenced to 89 days in jail

A Wisconsin man who faked his own death in Green Lake last year has been sentenced to 89 days in jail — the same amount of time he evaded law enforcement.

During his sentencing hearing Tuesday, Ryan Borgwardt was also ordered to pay $30,000 for costs related to the investigation into his disappearance.

The 45-year-old, who was living in Watertown at the time, carried out an elaborate plan to make it appear he drowned when he flipped his kayak in Green Lake. But while a search for his body went on for weeks, Borgwardt had actually fled to Europe, leaving behind his wife and children.

“For months, this defendant (Borgwardt) executed a series of plans that led to his children, his wife, his family, our dedicated officers, our community, our partners, to believe he was dead,” Green Lake County District Attorney Gerise Laspisa said during the sentencing hearing Tuesday.

“The destruction to his family can never be undone,” she added. 

Borgwardt went missing in August 2024. In November 2024, the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office revealed it believed Borgwardt had faked his own death and fled the United States.

He was charged with obstructing an officer, a misdemeanor, in December, after he told authorities he overturned his kayak in an attempt to make people believe he had died.

Borgwardt had been living in the country of Georgia, according to a criminal complaint. He allegedly told authorities: “Everything hinged on me dying in the lake,” according to a criminal complaint. 

Borgwardt entered a no contest plea on Tuesday. 

“I deeply regret the actions that I did that night and all the pain that I caused my family and friends,” Borgwardt said during the hearing.

Both Laspisa and Borgwardt’s attorney, Erik Johnson, agreed on the recommendation of a 45-day jail term for Borgwardt. But Green Lake County Circuit Court Judge Mark Slate imposed a sentence of 89 days to coincide with the length of his deception.

“It was during these 89 days that the defendant faked his death, and then, when he realized law enforcement knew he had not drowned by his own admission, he wanted to add as many layers as possible so he could not be found or tracked by law enforcement,” Slate said. 

“He could have come forward before that time, but he decided not to,” Slate said.

Borgwardt will serve those 89 days at the Green Lake County Jail. He has 60 days to report to jail. 

Borgwardt was believed to have drowned

Authorities searched for Borgwardt in the lake for more than 50 days after his wife reported he hadn’t come back from a kayaking trip on Aug. 12, 2024. His capsized kayak was recovered in the lake and law enforcement believed he drowned.

During a November 2024 press conference, Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said the department broadened its investigation after his body was not found. He said law enforcement had information that led them to believe he was still alive.

Just over a week later, Podoll said the sheriff’s office had been in contact with Borgwardt and confirmed he was alive but no longer in the country. Borgwardt also provided a video of himself to law enforcement. 

According to the criminal complaint, Borgwardt told law enforcement he paddled a kayak onto the lake with an inflatable, child-sized boat. After he overturned the kayak, he took the boat back to land where he had stashed an electric bicycle near the boat launch.

He rode the bike to Madison, then caught a bus to Canada, then a flight to a “country in Asia,” according to the complaint. He met with an adult woman after landing at the airport. 

He eventually ended up in the country of Georgia and would use a VPN when looking up news articles about his disappearance so it would look like he was “in Russia or somewhere else other than Georgia,” the complaint said.

According to the criminal complaint, Borgwardt admitted he planned to make people believe he died in August. His intent was to “to mislead the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office,” the criminal complaint said.

Borgwardt’s wife filed for a divorce after he returned back to the United States, according to an Associated Press report.

Borgwardt lived in Watertown at the time of his disappearance, but online court records show he’s now living in Appleton.