GREEN LAKE, Wis. (CBS) -A kayaker accused of faking his death and fleeing to Europe was back in Wisconsin and in police custody Tuesday evening. According to court records, Ryan Borgwardt45, was booked into the Green Lake County Jail late Tuesday afternoon.
Borgwardt went missing on August 12 while kayaking in Green Lake, about 50 miles northeast of Wisconsin Dells. Crews spent 54 days searching the lake – which is more than 200 feet deep at some points – expecting to find a body.
No body was ever found, but investigators did find evidence that Borgwardt had transferred money to offshore accounts and ended up in Europe.
Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said last month that Borgwardt admitted to staging his disappearance by flipping his kayak and then paddling back to shore in a child-sized inflatable boat, riding his e-bike to a bus station and drove from Detroit to the bus station. Canada and then fly to Europe.
Podoll said investigators discovered in early October that Borgwardt had entered Canada a day after his disappearance. A few days earlier, he synced his laptop to the cloud, replaced his hard drive, and cleared his search history.
Authorities also determined that Borgwardt had taken out a $375,000 life insurance policy for his family in January, transferred money to a foreign bank, set up a new email address and purchased airline tickets. Podoll said Borgwardt had been in contact with a woman living in Uzbekistan, and they were eventually able to contact him through a Russian-speaking woman.
A news conference is scheduled for Wednesday morning, where information about possible charges is expected to be announced.
