Man who faked death in Green Lake this summer in custody

The Watertown man who faked his death by staging a drowning accident while fishing in Green Lake County and then fled to Europe is back in the United States and in custody in the Green Lake County jail.

45-year-old Ryan Borgwardt was reported missing by family members after failing to return from a fishing trip on August 11th, 2024. Searchers found his car near Green Lake and an overturned kayak and his fishing pole in the lake. Local dive teams, drone operators, and private search teams looked for weeks but no sign of the man showed up.

Then on October 7th, investigators found evidence that Borgwardt was still alive and faked his death and fled to eastern Europe. After weeks of being in contact with him, and urging him to come home to deal with his actions, he has come back and was taken into custody Tuesday, December 10, though it’s unknown what he has been charged with.

The Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office is planning a news conference on the matter Wednesday at 10 AM.