August 28, 2025 • 21 mins
A Wisconsin judge sentences a husband and father to twice the amount of time recommended after he duped authorities and his family into believing he drowned while kayaking at a lake, all so he could make a new life overseas with an Eastern European woman. Amy and T.J. go over the bizarre, yet fascinating details of the story and how authorities were finally able to track him down and pay for his crime.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, folks, it is August the twenty eighth, and a
man who had been married twenty two years, had three
kids at home, went fishing, went missing, presumed dead. Well,
he turned up a couple months later, and now he
has been sentenced to jail time for faking his own death.
(00:22):
And with that, welcome to this Amy and TJ presents Robes.
This is a very devastating, heartbreaking story. When you hear
about what he did, some of the details are as
ridiculous and comical. For why he thought he was going
to get away with us.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, I mean to go to such lengths when you're
a father of three and a husband. Okay, I get it.
People get divorced every day. It's tough, it's hard, it's messy,
it's expensive. But my god, why would the only other
way out of a relationship, which would be death? I
guess why would that be the better option? You somehow
(01:08):
think it's better that your kids think you're dead, that
your community thinks you're dead, rather than you fell in
love with another woman. That's pretty serious. I can't imagine
that headspace to feel that trapped, that your only way
out is faking your death.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I thought about that too, And I know no one
would want to be sympathetic to this guy, but how
short of mental illness, short of something not right up there?
Because you feel so in such despair that you thought
this was a better option. And the story we're talking
about a lot of you all may remember it from
last year. A kayaker. His name is Ryan Borgwart. It's
(01:48):
fourty five years old from Wisconsin, and he went missing,
but they found him a few months later. And to
your point, Robes, he had run off, you said, that
was a kind way to put it. He had fallen
in love with another woman.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I mean love, love makes you do crazy things, and
whatever it was, the feeling he felt it was intoxicating
enough that this was all worth it somehow someway in
that moment. Certainly now he regrets it, he said as much.
But in the moment he felt so much passion that
this seemed like the right thing to do. Okay, So
(02:20):
now he was planned, This wasn't some like impulsive thing scheme.
Month month he had time to think about what he
was doing, how he was going to do it. He
even tried to make sure his family got money, so
he was like his guilt was even like working in overtime.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
He was sure about this love is what we're saying.
Apparently time to think about this love. But Ryan last year,
well we should tell you this week he's been sentenced
to eighty nine days in prison for the whole scheme.
Eighty nine days in prison. We'll explain why eighty nine
is in there. That's a very specific day. But last year,
August eleventh, he goes out, leaves home on a fishing trip,
goes out in the kayak on Green Lake, about one
(03:00):
hundred miles outside of Milwaukee. Texted his wife he had
been out there all day. Texted his wife at about
eleven o'clock that night, said he was heading in and
then going to be heading home. Well, he never made
it home. No one ever heard from him again. Police
were called and then he's reported missing. The search they
start for him is at five point thirty the next morning. Now,
Green Lake is one of the deeper lakes up in
(03:23):
that area, some whether two hundred ye two hundred feet deep,
I believe they said it. So it's a deeper lake.
So they know they had their work up against them.
So police come out. They find his vehicle near the lake,
they find his kayak it's overturned. And also a part
of that is that the life jacket is with him.
They find his tackle box, they find his fishing rock.
They search this lake over and over and over and robes.
(03:46):
This goes on for another couple of months that this
family thinks he's dead and they are searching for his body.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
And imagine the torture of that. You know, he texts
his wife, I'm turning around. I'm gonna pull the kayak
in coming home. I don't know. Did she wait up
all night for him? Was she nervous? Was she scared?
Did his kids know? Was there this terrible anxiety and
anticipation of what could have possibly happened to him? And
then the not knowing anyone who has lost someone, there's
(04:14):
tragedy and devastation just from that grief from that. But
when you don't know what happened to somebody, when you
don't know how they died, when you don't know where
their body is, that adds a whole other layer of grief.
So this was really cruel if you think about it.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
So he's missing, the families going through it, and again
they're searching for months and months, but ropes then, what
was that in August. About a couple months later October,
things started to turn around a little bit. Things start
to look a little.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Fishy, right, So perhaps the most fishy of them all.
Police find out that his name was actually run by
Canadian authorities the day after he disappeared. The day hmmm,
they found his overturned kayak in his life jacket and
his VI near the lake, so how could that be.
(05:03):
Then they find that he actually got a new passport.
Then when they searched his laptop, they saw that he
was heading to Europe.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yeah, they pieced it together. Like you said, this was
months and months in the making, but they were able
to put together these digital breadcrumbs to see where he
was trying to go.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yes, So the other thing, the Internet browser on his
laptop happened just to be completely cleared of all cookies, sites,
et cetera the day before he disappeared.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Fine, that looks bad.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
And then turns out he ended up taking out a
life insurance policy on himself for the family in January
for three hundred and seventy five thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
That's the key as well. You're thinking he was going
to try to collect the money. Nope, he took it
out and his family was supposed to be the beneficiary
of it.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Them a little something, a little parting gift. Okay, then
he moved money to a foreign bank. All of these
things point to one thing and one thing only.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Well, maybe we just have to look into it now.
An odd thing here he we said, he's been married
for between two years and he has three kids in
apparently ropes he didn't want anymore.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Well, apparently he actually did want more because among the wife,
among the many many interesting things that police were able
to dig up, turns out he reversed a a sectomy
before he left. So apparently this new lucky Gal wanted
to have kids, or at least he wanted to have
kids with her.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Have we even stated the lucky gal no who she
is and where she's from? No, Yeah, she didn't live
in a neighboring town, neighboring state, even not even a
neighboring country to us.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
And he met her online and she hails from the
country of Georgia in that's eastern Europe. Correct, So he
was willing not just to fake his own death and
to leave his children behind, but to then fly to
a foreign land and I don't know how he was
going to live there or stay there. Maybe they have
(07:07):
a ninety day fiance thing going on there too, But yes,
his plan was to stay with this Georgian woman and
live happily ever after.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Like they say, the heart wants what the heart wants,
doesn't it, Robes, But this lady that we mentioned here. Now,
as this story continues, police actually announced I believe it
was in October, a couple months after he went missing.
That no, we do not believe he is missing. We
believe he staged this whole thing. Now, the woman we
speak of in some way. Police didn't give all the details,
(07:36):
but got in touch with authorities and then help them
get in touch with him, and they found out, yes,
he was alive and well was in contact with authorities
by phone. But Robes, well, why didn't he come back? Well,
there's no extradition for faking your own debt. This is
actually considered it's a misdemeaning demeanor.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
It is a misdemeanor, so he absolutely could have stayed
in Georgia and then that misdemeanor charge would not have
qualified for him for extradition, so he would not have
faced any problems, any issues. But he chose to come back,
his lawyer says, to take responsibility for his actions once
he was found out, probably had some explaining to do
(08:14):
to his kids. His wife did file for divorce, not surprisingly.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
The date was funny. It was like the exact day
after he had they had brought him back, or the
day after he got back. She filed the very nature.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
It felt good, she was, she was ready. She was ready.
She just wanted it to hit. She wanted it to hit.
The timing is everything right, isn't that what they say?
So she wanted it to be very special, that timing.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
What do you do? What can you ever do with
those kids?
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I don't know?
Speaker 1 (08:39):
How can he sit? How can that be repaired? How
can the therapist be involved? What can you ever do
to make up for that? That's tough for those kids
I think about But I think about them and wanting
them to have a relationship with their dad.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
I think the only thing you could do would be
to have a mental health someone who knows how to
handle something like this and really tried to explain that
their father went through a mental crisis, and that would
be the only way I think you could forgive your
father is to know that they were struggling so much
with their own mental health that they didn't regard yours
(09:14):
and in that moment made a terrible decision that did
not consider the well being of their children, And just
think you'd have to just go ahead and accept that
that's possible.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
See, but what you just said is that that was
incredibly well said and considerate, and from a person who
has been through some stuff, who've seen some stuff and
seen people behave badly who might still be good people.
This is one where I think it's in our nature,
and certainly in social media's nature, to immediately just attack
this guy. I understand nobody's defending, but when you think
(09:45):
about kids whose dad is still alive, who has an
opportunity to have a relationship with them, I don't even
know where you start with the statement that my dad
didn't want me so much he was willing to fake
his death, and you know the thing that made him
convince that he didn't want to be my dad a
(10:05):
woman in Georgia they had never met.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
And I know this sounds wild, but the thought of
my dad doing that and then getting in besectomy reversed
almost as if he was going to replace me with
other children for whatever reason, that makes the story so
much worse from the child's perspective that it was almost like,
I'll just start over and just have another family that who.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Knows what's going on with this guy, but those kids.
I just think about those kids and who knows what
relationship they had, because I think about what if it
was wonderful, what if he was a great dad. I
don't know at all. It is just that part of it.
So he's in touch with authorities a couple months after
he disappeared, so they literally have him on the phone
and are in touch with him. At one point they
(10:47):
even have him send a video up himself to prove
that is him, and sure enough, that's him. We know
he's alive. Didn't they put that out publicly?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yes, he says, I am in my apartment, I am safe, secure,
no problem. Those were his exact words.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
But there was nothing they could do, so they were
just in touch. The story was what it was, but
he rode. I can't believe this gave us a little
more detail. I guess we kind of could figure it
out once we knew he was alive, But he gave
kind of a blow by blow and gave the details
about Hey, this is how I pulled it off.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Yeah, he said, he overturned the kayak and he threw
his phone into the lake. He then said he paddled
an inflatable boat to shore. He then rode an electric
biken seven seventy miles to Madison death commitment. Then he
took a bus to Detroit.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
That is commitment.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I was waiting for that. Then took another bus to
Canada and that's where he was. Yes, his name was
run through the Canadian authorities there and from there he
flew out of the country and to Europe.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
That was a commitment. That was a plan. He had
to have something waiting here to go do this, and
the ticket set up there and to do that in
the fly.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
But he was using his own passport. How did he
not think he was going to get caught and there
was such a paper trail. That's amazing to me that
he thought somehow that that would work in terms of
faking his depth. And he knew he had to leave
the country. He knew he had to go through authorities
who were going to scan his passport, his name was
going to be in the system. It's just wild to
(12:21):
me that he thought he could get away with that.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Like you said, Rose loves make love. It makes you
do crazy things, does it not? Well, folks, we heard
from him. He was sentenced this week. We'll explain exactly
why the judge went with eighty nine days, which is
double what the prosecution even asked for. Also, we heard
from the kayaker himself. We'll let you hear his words
(12:46):
to his family.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Welcome back, everyone to this edition of Amy and TJ,
where we are talking about forty five year old Ryan
Borgwart of Wisconsin, who faked his own death, his own
drowning death in a kayak. His wife, his three children,
authorities all feared and presumed that he was dead, until
turns out he wasn't. He was just in Europe with
(13:20):
a gal he met online. And then when police finally
did trace him to Georgia, the country of Georgia, some
two months after he disappeared, he voluntarily chose to come
back to the United States and face punishment, punishment he
would not have faced had he stayed in Georgia. I'm
(13:42):
guessing things didn't go so well with this mystery woman
who he met online.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
I'm sure she'll wait for him until he gets out
because it won't be long, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
We single now so he doesn't have to Yeah, that's
really Yeah, he's available. He's available now.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
But he won't be in jail long. And look and
the reason to your point there, he could have stayed,
but he came back to face punishment. But he's not
facing years and years or anything like that in prison,
because this is a misdemeanor. To your point, I don't
think he came back to face justice, did he. He
came back because he didn't have anywhere or anybody.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
I'm thinking the relationship didn't go so well and probably
wanted to see if he could somehow salvage a relationship
with his children.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Do you think she knew the Russian Russian speaking? I
think she was from Uzbekistan, butanel she had any idea,
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
They didn't say, but I would think that she wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Have known been on board with him face the old dad.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
What woman would say, Oh, that sounds like a good idea.
Leave your wife and your children and fake your death
and come be with me. No, nobody wants to live
a life on the run or be interested in somebody
who is going to not be able to travel or
actually use their name. That's always looking over their shoulder,
who's done something criminal? Do you want to be associated
with someone who he's done something criminal? Especially if you're
(15:02):
living in a country like that, perhaps you're thinking, ooh,
a wealthy American or just at least having a life
where you have a sense of comfort and peace. Not
one of the authorities could catch us at any moment.
So yes, I'm thinking she didn't know.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
She did know, all right, So he's come back, he's
faced justice this week. He has been sentenced by the
judge two eighty nine days in jail. The prosecution was
only asking for about half of that, forty five right
in jail for that, but the judge in I don't
know if you should be cute and clever, but this was,
(15:37):
I don't know, something poetic about it. At least I liked.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
It a I liked that the judge doubled it just
because he could, but also because he chose the exact
amount of days that he was missing. So those were
the days that his family suffered that authorities were searching
that lake, where resources were being used to try and
find him, And so those eighty nine days where everyone
(16:00):
was in the dark. Those are the same eighty nine
days he will spend behind bars. I think that is poetic,
and that is that does feel like justice, you know.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
I do like sometimes when judges do things like this right,
and sometimes it's I don't know, it's not even a
matter of the punishment, right, forty five days or ninety days,
is that it's not a severe jail time. But just
to make a point, I kind of like when judges do.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
That, I do too. He also has to pay back
thirty thousand dollars in restitution. That's the money that the
local authorities spent looking for him, searching for him, trying
to find him, And that also seems very fair.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
How can you pay back? I get that, But there
are folks out there who, yes, they're doing their job,
that are were genuinely concerned and trying to bring like
their hearts were in it for this guy.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
How like if you are you know anyone who is
in emergency services of any kind, I just think are
so incredible and we rely on them. Obviously they're constantly
in life for death situations. But imagine if you're a
trained rescue diver and you're going in in cold frigid
waters or at least you know, uncomfortable conditions to try
and get answers for a family, and you're trained to
(17:11):
do so, and you spend your time and you spend
your effort, and you're looking and you're thinking, and your
enter to know that it was all a hoax. That's
got to be really tough, you know.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
And you say it that way when you do account
for I mean, you're going underwater. Who knows what can
happen with equipment you're scuba up. Yeah, look, you're putting
yourself in danger, exactly at risk as well. So I
that part is necessary. We should always happen in these cases.
So again I'm okay with this sentence, with it. I
don't know who this judge is, but I'm okay with it.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Yes, and Ryan did get his dan court work. He
did get to speak, and he had an apology for
the court. He had an apology for the people who
once loved him. Not sure how many are still in
that camp or not, but this is what he had
to say. He said, I deeply regret the actions I
did that night and all the pain I caused my
(18:04):
family and friends. I wonder just even at this point,
what his circle is like now? Who is still in
his camp? And can he should he? Does he deserve
a second chance by friends and family members, certainly not
his wife. I get that, but I wonder where people
feel or how people feel about second chances. I know
(18:25):
you're not a big second chances guy.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
No, no, no, I am personally my Oh there you go
personally on a whole other level. When I look at
something and look at somebody like this and I my
first thought obviously is to the kids and that harm
and that story. What you think about when you think
about him? You're like, what in God's name? Yes, we
(18:48):
want to go with some stupid dude chasing some hot
piece of tail cross the line.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
We want to think that, We want to demonize him,
and he should be.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
I'm not knocking anybody for doing so. I am so
curious when we talk about this all the time. You
can stop an emotional response if you ask first, be curious.
And I am curious. What was going on in this
man's life that got him to that point of desperation?
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Right?
Speaker 1 (19:14):
What happened? Because it wasn't an instant thing. He had
months to plan and put He had months to go
this is stupid.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
You know, you know it's this you're speaking of stupid.
You might laugh at me, but one of my favorite movies,
I love Sleeping with the Enemy Julia Roberts. When I'm
reading what he did about how he had this inflatable boat,
he got on shore, he washed away the footprints so
that no one could see that, he came back on
shore and retrieved a stash electric bike that he had
placed so that he could then travel to Canada. Ultimately,
(19:45):
that all sounds like what Julia Roberts did to get
away from a physically and mentally abusive husband. Like that
is the thing people do when they're desperate, when they're
in fear for their lives, when there's no other way
to escape, because they're afraid whoever they're with is going
to come find them, hunt them down and kill them.
That these are the actions of someone who is desperate.
(20:05):
And so that's what was mind blowing to me. And
so we don't know what was going on in his head,
and maybe there is some sort of story where we
could understand his desperation. We don't know, but it just
suddenly reminded me of that movie. It's a good one.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
She did a better job. It took him longer to
track her down than it took.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
The when the towels were placed perfectly in the in
the in the we're all perfectly because he had O
CD and like and by the way, from one O
c D to the next, yeah, I get that.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Just compared me to a even killer guy.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
I would be desperate just to come find you, not
to get away home. My god.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Okay, this is enough of this. I'm gonna go, Kayak
and y'all. We'll talk to y'all soon, and always appreciate
y'all listening here on Amy and t J Presents
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Two two
Hey, folks, it is August the twenty eighth, and a
man who had been married twenty two years, had three
kids at home, went fishing, went missing, presumed dead. Well,
he turned up a couple months later, and now he
has been sentenced to jail time for faking his own death.
(00:22):
And with that, welcome to this Amy and TJ presents Robes.
This is a very devastating, heartbreaking story. When you hear
about what he did, some of the details are as
ridiculous and comical. For why he thought he was going
to get away with us.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, I mean to go to such lengths when you're
a father of three and a husband. Okay, I get it.
People get divorced every day. It's tough, it's hard, it's messy,
it's expensive. But my god, why would the only other
way out of a relationship, which would be death? I
guess why would that be the better option? You somehow
(01:08):
think it's better that your kids think you're dead, that
your community thinks you're dead, rather than you fell in
love with another woman. That's pretty serious. I can't imagine
that headspace to feel that trapped, that your only way
out is faking your death.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I thought about that too, And I know no one
would want to be sympathetic to this guy, but how
short of mental illness, short of something not right up there?
Because you feel so in such despair that you thought
this was a better option. And the story we're talking
about a lot of you all may remember it from
last year. A kayaker. His name is Ryan Borgwart. It's
(01:48):
fourty five years old from Wisconsin, and he went missing,
but they found him a few months later. And to
your point, Robes, he had run off, you said, that
was a kind way to put it. He had fallen
in love with another woman.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I mean love, love makes you do crazy things, and
whatever it was, the feeling he felt it was intoxicating
enough that this was all worth it somehow someway in
that moment. Certainly now he regrets it, he said as much.
But in the moment he felt so much passion that
this seemed like the right thing to do. Okay, So
(02:20):
now he was planned, This wasn't some like impulsive thing scheme.
Month month he had time to think about what he
was doing, how he was going to do it. He
even tried to make sure his family got money, so
he was like his guilt was even like working in overtime.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
He was sure about this love is what we're saying.
Apparently time to think about this love. But Ryan last year,
well we should tell you this week he's been sentenced
to eighty nine days in prison for the whole scheme.
Eighty nine days in prison. We'll explain why eighty nine
is in there. That's a very specific day. But last year,
August eleventh, he goes out, leaves home on a fishing trip,
goes out in the kayak on Green Lake, about one
(03:00):
hundred miles outside of Milwaukee. Texted his wife he had
been out there all day. Texted his wife at about
eleven o'clock that night, said he was heading in and
then going to be heading home. Well, he never made
it home. No one ever heard from him again. Police
were called and then he's reported missing. The search they
start for him is at five point thirty the next morning. Now,
Green Lake is one of the deeper lakes up in
(03:23):
that area, some whether two hundred ye two hundred feet deep,
I believe they said it. So it's a deeper lake.
So they know they had their work up against them.
So police come out. They find his vehicle near the lake,
they find his kayak it's overturned. And also a part
of that is that the life jacket is with him.
They find his tackle box, they find his fishing rock.
They search this lake over and over and over and robes.
(03:46):
This goes on for another couple of months that this
family thinks he's dead and they are searching for his body.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
And imagine the torture of that. You know, he texts
his wife, I'm turning around. I'm gonna pull the kayak
in coming home. I don't know. Did she wait up
all night for him? Was she nervous? Was she scared?
Did his kids know? Was there this terrible anxiety and
anticipation of what could have possibly happened to him? And
then the not knowing anyone who has lost someone, there's
(04:14):
tragedy and devastation just from that grief from that. But
when you don't know what happened to somebody, when you
don't know how they died, when you don't know where
their body is, that adds a whole other layer of grief.
So this was really cruel if you think about it.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
So he's missing, the families going through it, and again
they're searching for months and months, but ropes then, what
was that in August. About a couple months later October,
things started to turn around a little bit. Things start
to look a little.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Fishy, right, So perhaps the most fishy of them all.
Police find out that his name was actually run by
Canadian authorities the day after he disappeared. The day hmmm,
they found his overturned kayak in his life jacket and
his VI near the lake, so how could that be.
(05:03):
Then they find that he actually got a new passport.
Then when they searched his laptop, they saw that he
was heading to Europe.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yeah, they pieced it together. Like you said, this was
months and months in the making, but they were able
to put together these digital breadcrumbs to see where he
was trying to go.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yes, So the other thing, the Internet browser on his
laptop happened just to be completely cleared of all cookies, sites,
et cetera the day before he disappeared.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Fine, that looks bad.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
And then turns out he ended up taking out a
life insurance policy on himself for the family in January
for three hundred and seventy five thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
That's the key as well. You're thinking he was going
to try to collect the money. Nope, he took it
out and his family was supposed to be the beneficiary
of it.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Them a little something, a little parting gift. Okay, then
he moved money to a foreign bank. All of these
things point to one thing and one thing only.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Well, maybe we just have to look into it now.
An odd thing here he we said, he's been married
for between two years and he has three kids in
apparently ropes he didn't want anymore.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Well, apparently he actually did want more because among the wife,
among the many many interesting things that police were able
to dig up, turns out he reversed a a sectomy
before he left. So apparently this new lucky Gal wanted
to have kids, or at least he wanted to have
kids with her.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Have we even stated the lucky gal no who she
is and where she's from? No, Yeah, she didn't live
in a neighboring town, neighboring state, even not even a
neighboring country to us.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
And he met her online and she hails from the
country of Georgia in that's eastern Europe. Correct, So he
was willing not just to fake his own death and
to leave his children behind, but to then fly to
a foreign land and I don't know how he was
going to live there or stay there. Maybe they have
(07:07):
a ninety day fiance thing going on there too, But yes,
his plan was to stay with this Georgian woman and
live happily ever after.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Like they say, the heart wants what the heart wants,
doesn't it, Robes, But this lady that we mentioned here. Now,
as this story continues, police actually announced I believe it
was in October, a couple months after he went missing.
That no, we do not believe he is missing. We
believe he staged this whole thing. Now, the woman we
speak of in some way. Police didn't give all the details,
(07:36):
but got in touch with authorities and then help them
get in touch with him, and they found out, yes,
he was alive and well was in contact with authorities
by phone. But Robes, well, why didn't he come back? Well,
there's no extradition for faking your own debt. This is
actually considered it's a misdemeaning demeanor.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
It is a misdemeanor, so he absolutely could have stayed
in Georgia and then that misdemeanor charge would not have
qualified for him for extradition, so he would not have
faced any problems, any issues. But he chose to come back,
his lawyer says, to take responsibility for his actions once
he was found out, probably had some explaining to do
(08:14):
to his kids. His wife did file for divorce, not surprisingly.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
The date was funny. It was like the exact day
after he had they had brought him back, or the
day after he got back. She filed the very nature.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
It felt good, she was, she was ready. She was ready.
She just wanted it to hit. She wanted it to hit.
The timing is everything right, isn't that what they say?
So she wanted it to be very special, that timing.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
What do you do? What can you ever do with
those kids?
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I don't know?
Speaker 1 (08:39):
How can he sit? How can that be repaired? How
can the therapist be involved? What can you ever do
to make up for that? That's tough for those kids
I think about But I think about them and wanting
them to have a relationship with their dad.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
I think the only thing you could do would be
to have a mental health someone who knows how to
handle something like this and really tried to explain that
their father went through a mental crisis, and that would
be the only way I think you could forgive your
father is to know that they were struggling so much
with their own mental health that they didn't regard yours
(09:14):
and in that moment made a terrible decision that did
not consider the well being of their children, And just
think you'd have to just go ahead and accept that
that's possible.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
See, but what you just said is that that was
incredibly well said and considerate, and from a person who
has been through some stuff, who've seen some stuff and
seen people behave badly who might still be good people.
This is one where I think it's in our nature,
and certainly in social media's nature, to immediately just attack
this guy. I understand nobody's defending, but when you think
(09:45):
about kids whose dad is still alive, who has an
opportunity to have a relationship with them, I don't even
know where you start with the statement that my dad
didn't want me so much he was willing to fake
his death, and you know the thing that made him
convince that he didn't want to be my dad a
(10:05):
woman in Georgia they had never met.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
And I know this sounds wild, but the thought of
my dad doing that and then getting in besectomy reversed
almost as if he was going to replace me with
other children for whatever reason, that makes the story so
much worse from the child's perspective that it was almost like,
I'll just start over and just have another family that who.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Knows what's going on with this guy, but those kids.
I just think about those kids and who knows what
relationship they had, because I think about what if it
was wonderful, what if he was a great dad. I
don't know at all. It is just that part of it.
So he's in touch with authorities a couple months after
he disappeared, so they literally have him on the phone
and are in touch with him. At one point they
(10:47):
even have him send a video up himself to prove
that is him, and sure enough, that's him. We know
he's alive. Didn't they put that out publicly?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yes, he says, I am in my apartment, I am safe, secure,
no problem. Those were his exact words.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
But there was nothing they could do, so they were
just in touch. The story was what it was, but
he rode. I can't believe this gave us a little
more detail. I guess we kind of could figure it
out once we knew he was alive, But he gave
kind of a blow by blow and gave the details
about Hey, this is how I pulled it off.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Yeah, he said, he overturned the kayak and he threw
his phone into the lake. He then said he paddled
an inflatable boat to shore. He then rode an electric
biken seven seventy miles to Madison death commitment. Then he
took a bus to Detroit.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
That is commitment.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I was waiting for that. Then took another bus to
Canada and that's where he was. Yes, his name was
run through the Canadian authorities there and from there he
flew out of the country and to Europe.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
That was a commitment. That was a plan. He had
to have something waiting here to go do this, and
the ticket set up there and to do that in
the fly.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
But he was using his own passport. How did he
not think he was going to get caught and there
was such a paper trail. That's amazing to me that
he thought somehow that that would work in terms of
faking his depth. And he knew he had to leave
the country. He knew he had to go through authorities
who were going to scan his passport, his name was
going to be in the system. It's just wild to
(12:21):
me that he thought he could get away with that.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Like you said, Rose loves make love. It makes you
do crazy things, does it not? Well, folks, we heard
from him. He was sentenced this week. We'll explain exactly
why the judge went with eighty nine days, which is
double what the prosecution even asked for. Also, we heard
from the kayaker himself. We'll let you hear his words
(12:46):
to his family.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Welcome back, everyone to this edition of Amy and TJ,
where we are talking about forty five year old Ryan
Borgwart of Wisconsin, who faked his own death, his own
drowning death in a kayak. His wife, his three children,
authorities all feared and presumed that he was dead, until
turns out he wasn't. He was just in Europe with
(13:20):
a gal he met online. And then when police finally
did trace him to Georgia, the country of Georgia, some
two months after he disappeared, he voluntarily chose to come
back to the United States and face punishment, punishment he
would not have faced had he stayed in Georgia. I'm
(13:42):
guessing things didn't go so well with this mystery woman
who he met online.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
I'm sure she'll wait for him until he gets out
because it won't be long, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
We single now so he doesn't have to Yeah, that's
really Yeah, he's available. He's available now.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
But he won't be in jail long. And look and
the reason to your point there, he could have stayed,
but he came back to face punishment. But he's not
facing years and years or anything like that in prison,
because this is a misdemeanor. To your point, I don't
think he came back to face justice, did he. He
came back because he didn't have anywhere or anybody.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
I'm thinking the relationship didn't go so well and probably
wanted to see if he could somehow salvage a relationship
with his children.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Do you think she knew the Russian Russian speaking? I
think she was from Uzbekistan, butanel she had any idea,
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
They didn't say, but I would think that she wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Have known been on board with him face the old dad.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
What woman would say, Oh, that sounds like a good idea.
Leave your wife and your children and fake your death
and come be with me. No, nobody wants to live
a life on the run or be interested in somebody
who is going to not be able to travel or
actually use their name. That's always looking over their shoulder,
who's done something criminal? Do you want to be associated
with someone who he's done something criminal? Especially if you're
(15:02):
living in a country like that, perhaps you're thinking, ooh,
a wealthy American or just at least having a life
where you have a sense of comfort and peace. Not
one of the authorities could catch us at any moment.
So yes, I'm thinking she didn't know.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
She did know, all right, So he's come back, he's
faced justice this week. He has been sentenced by the
judge two eighty nine days in jail. The prosecution was
only asking for about half of that, forty five right
in jail for that, but the judge in I don't
know if you should be cute and clever, but this was,
(15:37):
I don't know, something poetic about it. At least I liked.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
It a I liked that the judge doubled it just
because he could, but also because he chose the exact
amount of days that he was missing. So those were
the days that his family suffered that authorities were searching
that lake, where resources were being used to try and
find him, And so those eighty nine days where everyone
(16:00):
was in the dark. Those are the same eighty nine
days he will spend behind bars. I think that is poetic,
and that is that does feel like justice, you know.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
I do like sometimes when judges do things like this right,
and sometimes it's I don't know, it's not even a
matter of the punishment, right, forty five days or ninety days,
is that it's not a severe jail time. But just
to make a point, I kind of like when judges do.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
That, I do too. He also has to pay back
thirty thousand dollars in restitution. That's the money that the
local authorities spent looking for him, searching for him, trying
to find him, And that also seems very fair.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
How can you pay back? I get that, But there
are folks out there who, yes, they're doing their job,
that are were genuinely concerned and trying to bring like
their hearts were in it for this guy.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
How like if you are you know anyone who is
in emergency services of any kind, I just think are
so incredible and we rely on them. Obviously they're constantly
in life for death situations. But imagine if you're a
trained rescue diver and you're going in in cold frigid
waters or at least you know, uncomfortable conditions to try
and get answers for a family, and you're trained to
(17:11):
do so, and you spend your time and you spend
your effort, and you're looking and you're thinking, and your
enter to know that it was all a hoax. That's
got to be really tough, you know.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
And you say it that way when you do account
for I mean, you're going underwater. Who knows what can
happen with equipment you're scuba up. Yeah, look, you're putting
yourself in danger, exactly at risk as well. So I
that part is necessary. We should always happen in these cases.
So again I'm okay with this sentence, with it. I
don't know who this judge is, but I'm okay with it.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Yes, and Ryan did get his dan court work. He
did get to speak, and he had an apology for
the court. He had an apology for the people who
once loved him. Not sure how many are still in
that camp or not, but this is what he had
to say. He said, I deeply regret the actions I
did that night and all the pain I caused my
(18:04):
family and friends. I wonder just even at this point,
what his circle is like now? Who is still in
his camp? And can he should he? Does he deserve
a second chance by friends and family members, certainly not
his wife. I get that, but I wonder where people
feel or how people feel about second chances. I know
(18:25):
you're not a big second chances guy.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
No, no, no, I am personally my Oh there you go
personally on a whole other level. When I look at
something and look at somebody like this and I my
first thought obviously is to the kids and that harm
and that story. What you think about when you think
about him? You're like, what in God's name? Yes, we
(18:48):
want to go with some stupid dude chasing some hot
piece of tail cross the line.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
We want to think that, We want to demonize him,
and he should be.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
I'm not knocking anybody for doing so. I am so
curious when we talk about this all the time. You
can stop an emotional response if you ask first, be curious.
And I am curious. What was going on in this
man's life that got him to that point of desperation?
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Right?
Speaker 1 (19:14):
What happened? Because it wasn't an instant thing. He had
months to plan and put He had months to go
this is stupid.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
You know, you know it's this you're speaking of stupid.
You might laugh at me, but one of my favorite movies,
I love Sleeping with the Enemy Julia Roberts. When I'm
reading what he did about how he had this inflatable boat,
he got on shore, he washed away the footprints so
that no one could see that, he came back on
shore and retrieved a stash electric bike that he had
placed so that he could then travel to Canada. Ultimately,
(19:45):
that all sounds like what Julia Roberts did to get
away from a physically and mentally abusive husband. Like that
is the thing people do when they're desperate, when they're
in fear for their lives, when there's no other way
to escape, because they're afraid whoever they're with is going
to come find them, hunt them down and kill them.
That these are the actions of someone who is desperate.
(20:05):
And so that's what was mind blowing to me. And
so we don't know what was going on in his head,
and maybe there is some sort of story where we
could understand his desperation. We don't know, but it just
suddenly reminded me of that movie. It's a good one.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
She did a better job. It took him longer to
track her down than it took.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
The when the towels were placed perfectly in the in
the in the we're all perfectly because he had O
CD and like and by the way, from one O
c D to the next, yeah, I get that.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Just compared me to a even killer guy.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
I would be desperate just to come find you, not
to get away home. My god.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Okay, this is enough of this. I'm gonna go, Kayak
and y'all. We'll talk to y'all soon, and always appreciate
y'all listening here on Amy and t J Presents
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Two two
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