Missing Father of 3 Faked His Disappearance in Kayak Accident and Fled to Europe: Authorities

Ryan Borgwardt was reported missing in Wisconsin on Aug. 12, but investigators now think he's in Europe following a 54-day-long search

• A missing dad of three named Ryan Borgwardt is believed to have fled to Europe after staging a kayaking accident, according to Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll

• Borgwardt was first reported missing in August but authorities say they later discovered he had replaced his computer hard drive and cleared its browser on the day of his disappearance

• "Ryan, if you are viewing this, I plead that you contact us or contact your family," the sheriff said on Friday, Nov. 8

Authorities now believe a missing kayaker and father of three faked his disappearance in a Wisconsin lake before fleeing the United States.

In a news conference on Friday, Nov. 8, Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll provided an update following a 54-day search for Ryan Borgwardt.

Podoll said that on Aug. 12, around 5:32 p.m. local time, deputies initially responded to a missing persons call — and Borgwardt's vehicle and trailer were later found parked in the area of Dodge Memorial Park, with the man's last known location being Green Lake.

Around an hour after the alarm was first raised in August, authorities then found a capsized kayak in the western part of the lake in an area where the water is around 220 feet deep, the sheriff told reporters.

The following day, fishermen found Borgwardt's fishing rod in the same lake, before his tackle box was also discovered, according to officials. Inside, the box contained a wallet, keys and a license belonging to Borgwardt — who last had contact with his wife on Aug. 11.

During the news conference last week, the sheriff explained that on Aug. 24, a team of experienced divers and search dogs were brought in to help look for Borgwardt, who has three children, according to local TV station WBAY, the Kansas City Star and the Watertown Daily Times.

Members of a volunteer search-and-recovery organization, Bruce's Legacy, also ran a 28-day search for the missing man.

But on Oct. 7, Sheriff Podoll said, he met with his team and they decided the search had to "go a different direction" — after they discovered that Borgwardt's passport had been checked by Canadian law enforcement on Aug. 13, the day after he was reported missing, per WBAY, suggesting someone with his records was still out there.

"That was something we didn't expect," the sheriff told reporters last week, adding that authorities ended up analyzing a laptop that the missing man's wife had given them.

Investigators then delved further and discovered that Borgwardt had reported his passport missing and obtained a replacement on May 22, according to WBAY.

Authorities now think Borgwardt is "someplace in Europe," with Podoll saying officers discovered he had replaced his computer hard drive and cleared its browser on the day of his disappearance.

Borgwardt also took photos of his passport, moved funds to a foreign bank, changed his email and communicated with a woman in Uzbekistan ahead of his vanishing, Podoll continued, telling reporters that he'd taken out a $375,000 life insurance policy in January and purchased airline cards.

"Due to these discoveries of the new evidence, we were sure that Ryan was not in our lake," Podoll said, thanking everyone that had helped in the search. (He didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information on Monday, Nov. 11.)

“I want to thank the family, I want to thank his wife. That is one strong lady,” the sheriff said at the news conference last week.

“Whenever we called on her, she always responded and she gave everything that she could for us," he said. "I cannot imagine what she’s going through and they’re going through.”

Of Borgwardt's kids, Podoll added, “They thought that their dad was drowned. A day ago, they found out that he wasn’t.”

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The sheriff then delivered a message directly to the missing man.

“Ryan, if you are viewing this, I plead that you contact us or contact your family," he said. "We understand that things can happen, but there’s a family that wants their daddy back.”