Liv Bridge
A father-of-three who 'faked his own death' on a kayaking trip has been sentenced after coming clean about how he did it.
Ryan Borgwardt was last seen venturing to Green Lake, Wisconsin, for a solo kayaking trip on August 12 last year before 'vanishing' into thin air.
His family grew concerned when the 45-year-old failed to come home after he had texted his wife of 22 years that he was turning his kayak around and was headed for the shore.
When his kayak was later found overturned along with his lifejacket, the authorities launched a widespread search for Borgwardt's body in the fear that he had drowned. However, in actuality, he had 'faked' his own death.
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Cops spent 50 days traversing the area with drones and sonar technology, at a cost of at least $50,000, to no avail.
The search then came to a halt when the authorities uncovered he had made several suspicious moves before his disappearance, from taking out a $350,000 life insurance policy, wiping his computer, inquiring about transferring funds abroad and had apparently sparked an online romance with a woman from Uzbekistan in the seven months before his so-called 'death'.
That, and the Canadian border force also checked his name the day after he was reported missing.
Now, Borgwardt has had his day in court, where Green Lake County judges sentenced him for the same amount of time that the authorities spent searching for him.
On Tuesday (August 26), he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanour charge of obstructing an officer during his hearing and was sentenced to 89 days.
Bogwardt's outlandish plot unravelled when investigators discovered he had professed 'his love and desire to create a new life' with the foreign woman, Green Lake County District Attorney Gerise LaSpisa said in the hearing.
"He reversed his vasectomy, he applied for a replacement passport, claiming that his original one, which his wife found in the family safe in its normal place, was lost or stolen,” she said.
The authorities eventually managed to track him down in November and persuaded him to return to the US. When back on home soil in December, Bogwardt surrendered to police and claimed he had faked his death for 'personal matters' - and that he believed the authorities would give up searching for him.
Speaking out before his sentencing, the disgraced father said he 'deeply' regretted the move and for the 'pain I caused my family and friends.'
Judge Mark Slate said the ruling was based on 'the length of time he allowed his deception to continue,' reports the New York Post.
LaSpisa further criticized Bogwardt for his 'premeditated, selfish actions' and for the 'incredible damage' he caused to friends and the community.
The judge also ordered Borgwardt to pay $30,000 to the Green Lake County Sheriff's Office and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for wasting police time and resources.
The sentencing comes as it was only recently revealed the lengths Bogwardt went to in a bid to pull off his stunt.
“His entire plan to fake his death to devastate his family in order to serve his own selfish desires hinged on him dying in the lake and selling his death to the world,” LaSpisa commented before sentencing.
WISN 12 News added that his wife has since divorced him.