Wisconsin father of three Ryan Borgwardt faked death(Image: Facebook)

Wife seeks payback on kayaking husband who faked his own death and abandoned family

Ryan Borgwardt faked death while kayaking on a lake. His disappearance sparked a huge manhunt and devastated the family he left behind. He is now back on US soil and his marriage in tatters

by · The Mirror

A husband who faked his own death and fled abroad to be with his mistress has been met with a clear message by his abandoned wife after returning home to the United States - a petition for legal separation. Ryan Borgwardt, 45, is believed to have staged the elaborate hoax so he could spend time in an Eastern European love nest.

But after four months, the father-of-three has returned to Wisconsin to face the music. His wife Emily, 44, filed for a legal separation the day after he landed back in his homeland.

"The marriage is irretrievably broken", she said in her petition. She is also asking for property and debt division, as well as her husband contribute to her legal costs.

At a press conference, Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said Borgwardt faces, "a number of charges", including "obstruction". He has told authorities that he faked his death because of "personal matters", Podoll said.

Ryan Borgwardt, 45, was reported missing by his family on August 12 following a kayaking trip at Green Lake( Image: Green Lake County Sheriff's Office)
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Borgwardt sparked a huge manhunt when he disappeared in August. The scheme was elaborately planned, with Borgwardt leaving his original passport at home. He tried to cover his tracks by removing his laptop's hard drive. He also changed all the email addresses linked to his accounts and moved money to a foreign bank.

It is believed he deliberately flipped his kayak and dumped his belongings in the water before paddling away on an inflatable boat and e-biking more than 50miles to Madison overnight.

In November, Borgwardt sent investigators a video to prove that he was safe from his hideout in Eastern Europe. Sources told the Mirror the 45-year-old may have been inspired by British canoe man John Darwin, who faked his disappearance, due to the similarities in the case.

Father of three Ryan Borgwardt with wife and family( Image: Facebook)

Police say Borgwardt staged the accident, much like the Brit, and also took out a life insurance policy before his disappearance.

Authorities traced his movements to Canada and it was found he had been communicating with an Uzbek women in Georgia. He handed himself in to the Sheriff's Office in Wisconsin on Wednesday of this week.

The former school janitor was led handcuffed into the Green Lake County Court and charged with obstruction related to the manhunt.

Father of three Ryan Borgwardt faked death on Green Lake Wisconsin

Court records confirm Emily lodged the documents in Dodge County almost immediately after his return, reports MailOnline. The couple, who married in 2002, have three teenaged children - two sons aged 17 and 15 and a 13-year-old daughter. Emily wants the children remain in her care and demands that her estranged husband pay child support.

A judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf and set bond at $500 for the misdemeanour obstruction charge.

His heartbroken family are being supported by the Sheriff's Office. "They are doing okay, that's probably the best thing you could say," Green Lake Chief Deputy Sheriff Matthew Vande Kolk said last month.

"I can't compare their situation to anything I have ever experienced in law enforcement before, I don't have any reference."