GREEN LAKE COUNTY, Wis. – A Wisconsin man who officials say faked his own death and fled to Eastern Europe was charged with a misdemeanor count of obstructing an officer Wednesday after he turned himself in to authorities.
Ryan Borgwardt, who was reported missing in August, flew back to the United States willingly, arriving Tuesday, said Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll, who remained tight-lipped on why the man left his wife and three children by allegedly staging a kayaking accident, and where exactly he’s been for the past four months.
“He came back on his own,” said Podoll during a news conference Wednesday. When asked by the media why Borgwardt decided to return, Podoll added, “His family, I guess.”
Borgwardt’s wife filed a petition for legal separation on Thursday, Dodge County court documents show. In Wisconsin, a legal separation does not end a marriage, unlike a divorce, but allows the court to rule on the same issues that come up in a divorce proceeding.