The Wisconsin man, who allegedly faked his own death before turning up alive and well overseas, returned to U.S. soil where sheriff’s deputies booked him into jail, authorities said Wednesday.
Ryan Borgwardt, handcuffed and wearing an orange jumpsuit, appeared Wednesday afternoon before a Green Lake County judge and was charged with alleged obstruction of an officer.
When Circuit Court Judge Mark Slate asked Borgwardt if he could afford any bail, the defendant said: “I have $20 in my wallet.”
Since Borgwardt “voluntarily turned himself in” from “halfway around the world,” Slate said the defendant didn’t pose a major flight risk and set bail at $500.
Borgwardt faces up to a $10,000 fine and nine months in jail for allegedly faking his own death before taking off across the Atlantic Ocean.
“We brought a dad back on his own accord,” Sheriff Mark Podoll told reporters earliert in the day.
The sheriff declined to reveal where Borgwardt had been staying before coming home of his own volition. He could be asked reimburse the costs of the search and rescue efforts, Podoll said.
“Relieved,” the sheriff said explaining his emotions of Borgwardt’s return. “We never stopped. We continue to serve our community in whatever call we get.”
Podoll spoke emotionally about his joy of convincing Borgwardt to come back to the United States.
But the sheriff declined to reveal any details of the man’s journey such as what contact he’s had with his family, where he was staying overseas or even what U.S. airport he landed at on Tuesday.
“At this time, we’re still putting that together,” he said.
The sheriff thanked his staff, federal authorities and local volunteers who worked on this case.
“They’re the ones that kept this going,” Podoll said, his voice cracking with emotion. “I couldn’t be more proud of them for what they did for a family. We didn’t give up. And you can stand here today feeling relieved.”
Borgwardt is accused of staging his Aug. 12 disappearance while kayaking on Green Lake, about 100 miles northwest of Milwaukee.
When Borgwardt didn’t come home on that day, searchers found a capsized kayak and his vehicle and trailer parked in Dodge Memorial County Park.
A frantic air and water search didn’t not turn up any remains or physical clues of what became of Borgwardt.
If Borgwardt wanted to go off the grid, the married father of two took an ill-conceived path as he used his own passport in Canada and helped authorities trace his long journey overseas.
Investigators later found he used a small inflatable boat to get back to shore where he had stashed an electric bike, officials said. Borgwardt rode it to Madison, boarded a bus to Detroit, crossed into Canada and eventually boarded a plane, authorities said.
The probe also found that Borgwardt had opened a foreign bank account, officials said.
After international call for help to find Borgwardt, a Russian-speaking woman reached out to Green Lake County Sheriff’s deputies and helped them contact the wayward father, authorities said.
The sheriff on Nov. 21 released a part of his department’s video conversation with Borgwardt, who on Nov. 11 said he was alive, well and living in an apartment. His exact location at that moment wasn’t disclosed.
The sheriff had appealed to Borgwardt to come home and be with his family for the holidays.
“We just briefly spoke to them (the man’s family), and I can only, only imagine how they feel,” Podoll said.
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