Authorities who tracked down a missing Wisconsin father who faked his own death to be with his mistress are ‘concerned’ for the welfare of his mystery lover, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Ryan Borgwardt, 45, is thought to have carried out the elaborate stunt to be with his mistress in Eastern Europe – spending four months in the former Soviet republic of Georgia with the woman from Uzbekistan – before returning to America .
Officials from Green Lake County Sheriff’s department initially probed his disappearance as a missing person, before tracking him down overseas.
Borgwardt handed himself in at Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday evening, after going missing on August 12.
The following day his wife Emily, 44, filed for legal separation saying their marriage had ‘irretrievably broken’.
But now the case has taken yet another shocking turn, with the Sheriff’s department expressing fears for the wellbeing of Borgwardt’s foreign mistress – whose photo helped put officials in contact with the father-of-three.
Chief Deputy Sheriff Matthew Vande Kolk told DailyMail.com that his department could offer no help to the Uzbek woman whose identity has not been revealed.
‘Because we are unable to provide any service to her whatsoever, I am concerned for her wellbeing,’ he said.
Ryan Borgwardt, 45, appeared in a Green Lake County courtroom on December 11 after he returned to the United States from Georgia to turn himself over to police. He was charged with obstruction related to the massive $35,000 manhunt after he went missing on August 12
Borgwardt posing with his wife of 22-years Emily and their three children. She filed for legal separation the day after he returned to US soil
Chief Deputy Sheriff Matthew Vande Kolk told DailyMail.com he was ‘concerned’ for Borgwardt’s Uzbeki mistress’s wellbeing
‘When somebody is in a foreign country, and they’re involved in something international of this scale, I just have no ability to protect, have no ability to inform – I have no ability to really do anything.
‘So that is very difficult,’ he added.
‘I don’t want to read on the web, some day that she was the victim of something.’
Vande Kolk declined to go into more detail surrounding the mystery woman, adding that she had not indicated either way if she wanted to speak publicly about the case.
It is unclear exactly why authorities are worried about the woman, who Borgwardt met online.
The self-employed carpenter elaborately faked his death by staging his kayak to make it appear that he had fallen out and drowned on Green Lake, Wisconsin’s deepest.
He had taken out a $375,000 life insurance policy with his immediate family, as beneficiaries.
Vande Kolke’s comments come after DailyMail.com revealed that Emily, the mother of his three teenaged children, had had enough with their 22-year marriage.
The large manhunt took place immediately after the green kayak, that Borgwardt used to fake his own death, was discovered – leading authorities to fear he had drowned
Documents filed in Dodge County Circuit Court state that the marriage is ‘irretrievably broken’, with Borgwardt’s wife requesting full custody of their three children
The criminal complaint against Borgwardt was filed by Green Lake County on December 11. It states that Ryan inflated a raft to safely get off the green kayak that he had filed with items such as fishing gear, before returning to shore
Documents filed in Dodge County Circuit Court show she wants full custody of the teens, two sons aged 17 and 15 and a 13-year-old daughter
The couple, who married in 2002, have not yet entered a written agreement about financial support or custody of the children.
Borgwardt is listed as having an unknown address in his wife’s petition, despite telling Green Lake County Court his address was the property in Watertown which he owns with his wife.
Emily is listed as working at Trinity St. Luke’s Lutheran School, with Borgwardt as ‘self-employed’. He set up his own carpentry business in Watertown and previously worked as a school janitor.
She is requesting that the children remain in her care, and that her estranged husband pay child support.
The documents also show that she is asking for property and debt division, as well as Borgwardt to contribute to her costs and attorney fees.
Each party is banned from harassing the other and removing the children from Wisconsin for more than 90 days without the consent of the other parent or court.
A court hearing in the case has been scheduled for April 2025.
Chief Deputy Vande Kolk added: ‘We feel like we’ve been able to play a part in an opportunity for him to repair some things.
‘Certainly not everything will be fixed, but he has an opportunity now to do something he otherwise wouldn’t have had. So I think we’re proud of that.’
Borgwardt also told police that he wanted to make his ‘death’ as believable as possible – even going as far as tossing his phone in the middle of the lake
Borgwardt took a Greyhound bus across the border with Canada and then flew to Paris before boarding another flight that took him to Georgia via a layover in an Asian country.
When Chief Deputy Vande Kolk sent Borgwardt an email, he told police his ‘heart hit the floor’ and knew that the deputy saw the lone photo on his laptop of his mistress he faked his death to meet
Authorities spent 54 days looking for Borgwardt before announcing on November 8 that they didn’t believe he had drowned in the lake but rather had faked his own death.
A probable cause affidavit shows that he has been planning to disappear for ‘some time’, with Borgwardt travelling to Canada on a Greyhound bus after dumping his kayak in the lake with his belongings.
He then boarded a flight to Paris from Toronto Airport, before traveling to Georgia via a layover in an Asian country.
Once he arrived, he emailed his lover who came to pick him up, and the pair stayed in a hotel for a few days.
The complaint goes on to say that authorities were able to recover from his laptop a photo of the woman he went to Europe to meet, and ‘knew that he made a mistake, the one mistake that he couldn’t make.’
Borgwardt admitted that his ‘heart hit the floor’ after he received an email from Vande Kolk on November 8.
He sent a video to the Sheriff’s Office November 11 to prove his was alive and safe and wasn’t being held against his will – but had not contacted his family since he vanished.
After establishing contact with him on a ‘near daily basis’, authorities confirmed that they convinced Borgwardt to come back to the United States, saying he had voluntarily returned ‘for his family’, but would not give additional details about the communication.
Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll addressing reporters during a news conference on December 11. He said Borgwardt faked his death because of ‘personal matters’
Borgwardt’s mystery lover is from Uzbekistan, home to the Unesco World Heritage site Shah i Zinda mausoleum in Samarkand.
The former couple are banned from harassing each other and removing the children from Wisconsin for more than 90 days without the consent of the other parent or court
Vande Kolk confirmed that the department is planning to release the communications and other evidence once the criminal case is over.
He added: ‘I can’t really talk to the content of that at this point. But it’s something that’s probably going to make for a potential story.
‘I think a lot of people are going to see that communication, and again, they’re going to see the people side of our business.
‘And I think there maybe even some people are going to probably see a different side of parties that are involved in this case that they may have not otherwise seen.
‘So when that time comes, you all will be much more informed as to the details that are probably very interesting on the story side, but not necessarily part of the criminal side.’
Borgwardt told authorities that he faked his death due to ‘personal matters,’ Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said.
He also told them that he picked Green Lake specifically due to its 237 ft. depth
The scheme was elaborately planned, with Borgwardt leaving his original passport at home when he vanished.
Podoll told the media in a press conference that Borgwardt picked Green Lake for his master plan because it’s the deepest in Wisconsin
Borgwardt said nothing during the hearing except to tell the court he would represent himself. The judge entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf and set his bond at $500 which he only has to pay if he violates the conditions of his release from jail
Police said he tried to cover his tracks by removing his laptop’s hard drive and wiping his search history clean.
Before his disappearance, he changed all the email addresses linked to his bank accounts and moved money to a foreign bank account.
Borgwardt was led handcuffed into the Green Lake County Court sporting an orange prison jumpsuit on Wednesday, four months after he initially vanished.
He was charged with obstruction related to the massive $35,000 manhunt which was launched following his disappearance on August 11. Green Lake County is seeking restitution of $35,000 to $40,000.
Borgwardt said nothing during the hearing, except to tell the court he would represent himself.
A judge entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf and set bond at $500 for the misdemeanor obstruction charge, which Borgwardt only has to pay if he violates the conditions of his release from jail.
