Wisconsin father Ryan Borgwardt who faked death to flee US ‘with mistress’ shuffles into courtroom in shame after making dramatic return

A Wisconsin father who tried to fake his own death in a kayak accident before fleeing overseas shuffled into court in handcuffs following his dramatic return to the US.

Married Ryan Borgwardt, 45, is thought to have carried out the elaborate stunt to be with his mistress in Eastern Europe.

The father-of-three was led into the Green Lake County Court sporting an orange prison jumpsuit on Wednesday afternoon, four months after he initially vanished.

He was charged with obstruction related to a massive manhunt which was launched following his disappearance on August 11.

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. 

The Wisconsin man said he would represent himself, but a court-appointed lawyer is also possible. 

Police learned in October that Borgwardt had crossed the border into Canada a few days after his disappearance and had been communicating with a Uzbek woman who spoke Russian.

After establishing contact with him on a ‘near daily basis’, they were eventually able to persuade him to come home, saying he had voluntarily returned, ‘for his family’.

He was booked into the Green Lake County jail on Tuesday with a mugshot which showed him wearing the same prison attire.

Police have not released details of where he was staying or who he was with while he was missing.

At a press conference this morning, Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll would only state that Borgwardt faces, ‘a number of charges’, including ‘obstruction’.

However he stressed that Borgwardt came willingly by himself, flying into an international airport before turning himself into the local police station. 

He refused to confirm whether Borgwardt has been in contact with his wife of 22 years since his return. 

 ‘I could not be more proud of them and what they did for a family, we didn’t give up and we can stand here today feeling relieved,’ Podoll said of his officers.

Authorities spent 54 days looking for the Wisconsin man before announcing on November 8 that they didn’t believe he had drowned in the lake, but rather had faked his own death.

They revealed that he deliberately flipped his kayak and dumped his phone and belongings in the water before paddling to safety on an inflatable boat and e-biking more than 50miles to Madison overnight. 

Borgwardt had been talking to a woman in Uzbekistan before he obtained a new passport and a $375,000 life insurance policy in January.

They managed to establish contact and in November, Borgwardt – who had not contacted his family since his disappearance – sent a video in which he showed off his apartment, telling officers: ‘I am safe, secure, no problems.’

But the same cannot be said for his heartbroken family, who are also being supported by the Sheriff’s Office.

‘They are doing okay, that’s probably the best thing you could say,’ Vande Kolk explained last month.

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

Borgwardt told authorities last month that he faked his death because of ‘personal matters,’ the Podoll said.

He also told them that he picked Green Lake for his master plan because it’s the deepest in Wisconsin.

The scheme was elaborately planned. Borgwardt left his original passport at home when he vanished, and 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.