Last texts kayaker who faked death to start new life with other woman sent wife

A man who faked his own death to start a new relationship with a woman he met online texted his wifemoments before vanishing to suggest something bad may have happened to him.

Ryan Borgwardt disappearedon August 11 last year after kayaking in Green Lake, Wisconsin, leaving his wife and children devastated. In reality, he had been scheming for months to abandon them and start a new life with a woman from Uzbekistan, prosecutors said.

Police ended their search for the dad in early October after Canadian law enforcement flagged some activity on his passport on August 13. Before vanishing, Borgwardt texted his then-wife, Emily, that he "may have snuck out on a lake" to watch the northern lights.

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Emily replied: "That would have been nice to know. I was beginning to wonder why you weren't home," according to case documents released by the Green Lake County Sheriff's Office. "I should be used to it by now. So many nights I have no idea where you are when it's late," Emily added.

Borgwardt then told Emily he loved her and wished her goodnight, before told him to be safe, and that she loved him too. In his last text message to his wife just before 11pm, Borgwardt said he would be "heading back to shore soon." Hours later, at around 5am, Emily texted him: "Where are you????" and "Babe?" Borgwardt did not respond this time.

Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll announced that officers had found Borgwardt was actually alive and believed to be in Eastern Europe. He "willingly" returned in December 2024. The dad was found to have taken photos of his passport, changed his email and moved money to a foreign bank on August 11 - the day he seemingly vansihed. Borgwardt also took out a $375,000 (£276,000) insurance policy in January 2024.

With help from a Russian-speaking woman, who may have been the woman from Uzbekistan, police eventually reached Borgwardt, who sent a video assuring he was "safe" and "secure." He described how he staged his disappearance by overturning a kayak on Green Lake, escaping on a child-sized inflatable, biking through the night to Madison, then taking a bus to Detroit, crossing into Canada and flying overseas.

By May, his wife had divorced him. In August, Borgwardt pleaded no contest to obstructing an officer, was jailed for 89 days - the length of his disappearance - and ordered to repay $30,000 in police costs.

"I deeply regret the actions that I did that night and all the pain that I caused my family and friends," Borgwardt said before his sentencing, ABC reports.