A missing father who was initially presumed dead after his kayak was found overturned in a lake is now believed to have fled to Europe to begin a new life with a woman from Uzbekistan he met online.

Ryan Borgwardt, 45, vanished on Green Lake, Wisconsin, on August 11 after he went out for a solo fishing trip.

His kayak, life jacket, water bottle, tackle box and fishing pole were found in the water, and his car was still parked nearby. Emergency services searched the lake and surrounds for 54 days before ultimately abandoning the ground search.

Investigators have since revealed that Borgwardt had obtained a new passport and was chatting to a woman online from Uzbekistan. 

He changed all the email addresses linked to his bank accounts and had inquired about moving money to foreign bank accounts. 

Burgwardt had also started a $375,000 life insurance policy and purchased a gift card for an airline.

Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said in a news conference: ‘We do not know where he is. We know that he is not in our lake.’

Officers suspect Borgwardt is likely in Europe.

The plot was elaborately planned. Borgwardt left his original passport at home when he left, and the life insurance policy was taken out in January. 

He’d also completely wiped his computer, but authorities were able to recover his web searches. 

His new passport was run by law enforcement in Canada on August 13, the day after he was reported missing. 

Meanwhile, Borgwardt’s devastated wife Emily, and their three children, have been grieving their loss, believing for months he was likely dead.

She is now being urged to join support groups for women with ‘runaway husbands’ as her friends and community rally around her.

‘They thought that their dad was drowned. A day ago, they found out that he wasn’t,’ Podoll said.

She and Borgwardt celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary in July 2024.

Podoll described Emily as ‘one strong lady’ in his press conference, adding that she ‘always responded and gave everything she could’ during the investigation.

‘I cannot imagine what she is going through, and they’re going through.’ 

Officials have urged Borgwardt to come home for the sake of his family.

If he were to return to the United States, he would likely be hit with a bill to pay restitution for the hundreds of hours poured into searching for him.