When a Wisconsin father of three didn’t return home after a kayaking trip, his heartbroken family and local community sprang into action.

Everything indicated that Ryan Borgwardt, 45, had been the victim of a tragic accident.

Her car was found parked near Green Lake, and a few days after her disappearance, on August 11, her kayak was discovered capsized in an area more than 200 feet deep.

Borgwardt’s life jacket, water bottle, fishing rod and tackle box with his keys and wallet inside were also in the water.

Determined not to give up, friends and family helped his wife Emily raise money for a special search team, Bruce’s Legacy, which spent months scouring approximately 1,500 acres of the lake, according to the County Sheriff’s Office. Green Lake County.

Emily sold shirts with messages like “Faith Over Fear” and in a since-deleted Facebook post on August 15, she shared a photo of Jesus with the message: “I’ve always loved this photo but it really has a new meaning lately. a few days…. Can you imagine Jesus holding out his hand to write and saying, “Let’s go, my child!” ‘…How incredible!’

On September 19, she thanked officials for their “continued efforts” and, as the weeks passed, she was eventually forced to return to work as a teacher at a parish school in order to care for their three children, all of whom are in high school.

But 54 days after Borgwardt disappeared, on Nov. 8, authorities revealed in an explosive news conference that the father of three likely didn’t drown at all.

Ryan and Emily Borgwardt celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary in July 2024

Ryan Borgwardt’s family and community spent heartbreaking months searching for him, only to discover that he had likely faked his own death and abandoned them.

Instead, Borgwardt is suspected of trying to fake his own death as part of an elaborate plot to voluntarily abandon his family and move to Eastern Europe with a lover.

Sheriff Mark A. Podoll revealed that Emily was informed of the new details of the case but was careful not to share them with her family, even her own children.

They only discovered that their father had probably tried to stage his own death and was on the run just a day before the press conference.

Podoll added that she had been “very strong” throughout the traumatic ordeal.

A day before the announcement, Emily changed her Facebook profile picture from a photo with Borgwardt to one that simply said, “Be still.”

She later told NBC News, “I cannot comment at this time as this is still an active investigation.”

Meanwhile, Podoll made a desperate appeal directly to Ryan.

“Ryan, if you are watching this, I am begging you to contact us or your family,” Podoll implored.

In a since-deleted post on August 15, Emily shared a photo of Jesus and wrote the message above

The family and community sprang into action, helping Emily de Borgwardt raise funds for a special search team, Bruce’s Legacy, which covered approximately 1,500 acres of the lake.

His kayak, life jacket, water bottle, tackle box and fishing rod were found in the water, and his car was still parked nearby. Emergency services searched the lake and surrounding area for 54 days before abandoning the ground search.

“We understand that things can happen, but there is a family that wants their dad back.”

Investigators revealed Borgwardt spoke to a woman in Uzbekistan before obtaining a new passport and a $375,000 life insurance policy in January.

Borgwardt reportedly used his new passport in Canada a day after being reported missing.

The project was carefully planned. Borgwardt left his original passport at home when he disappeared, and police said he tried to cover his tracks by removing his laptop’s hard drive and erasing his search history.

Before his disappearance, he had changed all email addresses linked to his bank accounts and transferred money to a foreign bank account.

It remains unclear whether Borgwardt could face criminal charges if he is ever located.

Sheriff Podoll added that while he did not know how much taxpayer money was spent on the search, his office would seek restitution for that money.

Podoll told a news conference: “We don’t know where he is. We know it’s not in our lake.

Sheriff Mark A. Podoll revealed on November 8 that Borgwardt was likely alive.

Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said at a news conference, “We don’t know where he is. We know he’s not in our lake’

On September 19, she thanked officials for their “continued efforts” on Facebook.

Emily sold shirts with messages like “Faith Over Fear” and was forced to return to work teaching at a parochial school in order to care for their three children.

Since the sheriff’s revelations, the case has spread nationally and the police have received several tips.

Earlier this week, the sheriff was forced to deny that Borgwardt was seen in a TikTok video in San Diego, California, after the claim went viral.

Podoll wrote Wednesday: “WE DON’T BELIEVE THE TIKTOK VIDEO IS RYAN. WE ARE IN CONTACT WITH THE INTERVIEWER.

‘THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR ALERTING US OF ITS EXISTENCE. We verified that it was not Ryan by contacting people who know Ryan.

The children only found out that their father had likely tried to fake his own death to abandon the family a day before the press conference.

Investigators have since revealed that Borgwardt obtained a new passport and was chatting online with a woman from Uzbekistan.

Meanwhile, volunteers who spent dozens of hours searching for Borgwardt told the New York Times that the case had cost them “a lot of heartache.”

“It definitely cost us a lot of heartache, a lot of money, repairs and equipment,” said Keith Cormican, founder of Bruce’s Legacy.

“I just hope he comes forward as soon as possible so the family can move on.”