Dad Said He Was Safe After Fake Death. His Laptop Said Otherwise

Ryan Borgwardt case. On August 11, 2024, a 44-year-old Wisconsin man went out on Green Lake in a kayak and texted home that he would be heading back to shore soon. By morning, deputies found his van and trailer at the launch and his kayak floating upside down over about 200 feet of water. For nearly two months, searchers worked the deepest natural inland lake in the state. There was no body to find. Three months later, he sent a self-recorded video saying he was safe, but not where he was. We go through the record in order: the scene at the lake, the search, the border record and the laptop forensics the sheriff described, the self-recorded video, the route he laid out by email, his interview with the Green Lake County Sheriff's Office after he came home, the charge, the plea, the sentence and what happened after. SOURCES & FOOTAGE Green Lake County Sheriff's Office press conferences: WFRV Local 5 (Nov 8, 2024), FOX 9 (Nov 21, 2024), FOX6 Milwaukee (Dec 2024) Self-recorded video (courtesy Green Lake County Sheriff's Office): KVUE Sheriff's office interview recording (Dec 10, 2024, released 2025): via PLUNDER True Crime re-upload Sheriff's office bodycam, text-message screen and records video: ABC7 Chicago (picture only) Court pool video: AP (first appearance, Dec 11, 2024), FOX6 Milwaukee (plea and sentencing, Aug 26, 2025) Reporting: CNN, USA Today, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WPR, WBAY, NBC26, Spectrum News 1, Fond du Lac Reporter, Milwaukee Magazine Narration: AI voice (ElevenLabs). Music: original score (rights owned by the channel). NOTE This video is based on sheriff's office video and statements, court video and news reporting. The laptop findings and the route are presented as the sheriff described them; interview captions follow the released recording and may differ slightly from other transcripts. Ryan Borgwardt was charged with one misdemeanor, obstructing an officer. He pleaded no contest on August 26, 2025, paid $30,000 in restitution and was sentenced to 89 days in jail with work-release privileges. He was released in early December 2025. We found no appeal; a later motion he filed was dismissed on February 3, 2026. His conviction stands and his sentence is complete. Faking one's death is not itself a crime in Wisconsin, as the judge said in court. His family is not named or shown. No one died in this case. #TrueCrime #RyanBorgwardt #SecondStatement