Found Alive WI - Ryan Borgwardt, 45, Green Lake, 11 Aug 2024 *evidence that he faked his death and is alive in Eastern Europe*

[caradana]

I don't think this case necessarily centers around his actions or intentions.

jmo

Edited to make sure it's clear I don't imply anyone in his family is involved. In fact, I don't think anyone in USA is at the center of this situation.

Cool, then let’s instead center it on taxpayer costs, unless you have a compelling belief as to a stronger social imperative (if so, I would love to learn from it, please share it). Otherwise, may he keep pedaling further away from here.

 

[Inthedetails]

Cool, then let’s instead center it on taxpayer costs, unless you have a compelling belief as to a stronger social imperative (if so, I would love to learn from it, please share it). Otherwise, may he keep pedaling further away from here.

It might be something worth spending resources on, and obviously LE is spending resources on this. I don't think they'd bother for a run-away dad.

LE aren't stupid or wasteful with time and money.

Just saying.

jmo

 

[caradana]

It might be something worth spending resources on, and obviously LE is spending resources on this. I don't think they'd bother for a run-away dad.

LE aren't stupid or wasteful with time and money.

Just saying.

jmo

I am interpreting this to mean you have a consequential theory. I’m wide open to one, and I think of myself as a creative type, but I can’t conjure one up beyond embezzlement or fraud. Some might toss in espionage as a possibility, but if this guy was involved in Eastern European espionage he was perhaps the worst at it in all of history. May I ask what your theory is?

P.s. Why LE keeps pulling on this in Wisconsin: I think LE genuinely respects and likes the wife and family and want to solve this to the extent of their power for them. I also think a couple of months wet, in inflatable boats with sonar, looking for something that wasn’t ever there, while other cases are going uninvestigated, would piss me off to the extent where I want to throw the book at that manipulative jerk. Either or both of those would be motivation enough for me.

 

[LoveyG]

IMO, LE are looking at a bigger picture than a deadbeat husband/father.

 

[caradana]

IMO, LE are looking at a bigger picture than a deadbeat husband/father.

Could very well be! I am just stuck at what it would be. What is your theory?

 

[LoveyG]

Personally, I think he was Catfished. I think they'll take his money and then he will either be put to work or killed.

 

[airportwoman]

I think this story is more than a runaway dad.

jmo

I personally agree.

 

[peas n carrots]

I would like to know his cylcing history. Cycling 70 miles - even on an e-bike - without training would be like running 20 miles with no running history. A normal person does not get on a bike and cycle 70 miles with no experience, especially at night.

He may or may not be a cyclist, but it’s more likely he would be a road cyclist than in most places in the US - active outdoor lifestyles are pretty common.

70 miles on an ebike - totally doable if he is a decent road cyclist. I recently did an e-cycle tour in Oregon, and my rental bike topped out at 22 mph on flat ground. If he had spare batteries he could have been hitting the throttle on all the uphills.

 

[caradana]

Personally, I think he was Catfished. I think they'll take his money and then he will either be put to work or killed.

Interesting. Let’s delve that one through. How many hapless midlife American guys get catfished by Eastern European cartels every year? … a lot, let’s say thousands. How many of those hapless American guys actually SHOW UP in Uzbek? That is the last thing they would want! … but he’s physically fine, there was no Jimmy Hoffa in the marshlands thing that happened here, he shot a video for police in the apartment. I believe there is some woman there who was involved in this, probably feels something for the guy after months of limerance texts and is now googling him like what have I done to my life. If this guy was part of some broader conspiracy, he was genuinely awful at it. My $0.02.

 

[Charlot123]

I don't think this case necessarily centers around his actions or intentions.

jmo

Edited to make sure it's clear I don't imply anyone in his family is involved. In fact, I don't think anyone in USA is at the center of this situation.

I agree. The questions I would ask are the usual; are his parents alive? What about brothers and sisters, etc? Something mundane must have happened 6 months ago. But, hopefully he is not US problem now.

P.S. a passport itself is not super usual for a person living in a tiny US town. Yes, he could travel to Canada or Mexico…but did he? How often? I think the most mundane situation happened: his kid got a certain gift for Xmas and used it. Just guess what so common… It could have been enough for dad to see that his story soon won’t match. The main thing RB is needed for in the US could be certain knowledge but I suspect he is long gone. I have a vague idea why he may be connected to Central Asia but need the time to formulate it well.

 

[Charlot123]

I would like to know his cylcing history. Cycling 70 miles - even on an e-bike - without training would be like running 20 miles with no running history. A normal person does not get on a bike and cycle 70 miles with no experience, especially at night.

Me, too.
So, he lived in Green Lake, a tiny town not horribly far from Canadian border. In the 20th, I’d say, a great place for a bootlegger, now? The border is interesting. Also,

Green Lake, Wisconsin - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Read about paranormal activity at the local cemetery - great place to keep anyone crossing the border or hiding if people are avoiding the cemetery! JMO.

Now, of course, there is significantly increased migration to the US from Central Asia.

Migration data in Central Asia

Key trends War in Ukraine

www.migrationdataportal.org

U.S. reports 50,000 illegal immigrants from Central Asia in 2023 amid extremism concerns

Data from the Migration Policy Institute puts the immigrant population at approximately 45.3 mn individuals as of 2021, which constitutes a significant portion of the overall US population of about 331.9 mn.

daryo.uz

Usually I would suspect people to cross via the Mexican border but Canada is always possible. It is interesting to trace the guy’s biking trips. JMO.

 

[wnk]

<snipped>
So, he lived in Green Lake, a tiny town not horribly far from Canadian border.

Correcting some misinformation here.
He lived in Watertown (population 23,000), not Green Lake.
Green Lake is 350 miles from the Canadian border. That's a 6-hour car ride.

 

[Charlot123]

Correcting some misinformation here.
He lived in Watertown (population 23,000), not Green Lake.
Green Lake is 350 miles from the Canadian border. That's a 6-hour car ride.

Thank you!
Regarding "Canadian proximity". My rule of thumb is, if bootleggers and rumrunners were active in WI during the prohibition, then the state is close enough to Canada to potentially use it again for whatever purposes.

The rest of my assumption could be an overkill. Essentially, RB staged his disappearance very unprofessionally. Pretended to drown but was registered at the Canadian border the next day, left evidence of funds being transferred into European banks. If he led a double life for years, surely there would be funds already deposited for him? Something doesn't fit the profile. But then, not all people in such groups come across as super smart. They, however, are unually disciplined, and RB doesn't impress me in this regard either.

So maybe LE is interested in the case merely because it makes so little sense?

 

[Inthedetails]

Thank you!
Regarding "Canadian proximity". My rule of thumb is, if bootleggers and rumrunners were active in WI during the prohibition, then the state is close enough to Canada to potentially use it again for whatever purposes.

The rest of my assumption could be an overkill. Essentially, RB staged his disappearance very unprofessionally. Pretended to drown but was registered at the Canadian border the next day, left evidence of funds being transferred into European banks. If he led a double life for years, surely there would be funds already deposited for him? Something doesn't fit the profile. But then, not all people in such groups come across as super smart. They, however, are unually disciplined, and RB doesn't impress me in this regard either.

So maybe LE is interested in the case merely because it makes so little sense?

Below is a link that shows Green Lake on the map. You can see it's north of Madison, which he says he reached by riding his ebike. From Madison he went to Detroit, which is a much easier entry into Canada than heading north into rural Michigan.

At the time RB was entering Canada, nobody was looking for him to be doing that. He didn't have to sneak in through a border crossing in the wilderness, imo. And, his plan was to get out of North American quickly, not to survive in remote areas far from an airport. imo.

43°49'28.0"N 88°57'52.0"W · 43.824444, -88.964444

www.google.com

 

[Charlot123]

Below is a link that shows Green Lake on the map. You can see it's north of Madison, which he says he reached by riding his ebike. From Madison he went to Detroit, which is a much easier entry into Canada than heading north into rural Michigan.

At the time RB was entering Canada, nobody was looking for him to be doing that. He didn't have to sneak in through a border crossing in the wilderness, imo. And, his plan was to get out of North American quickly, not to survive in remote areas far from an airport. imo.

43°49'28.0"N 88°57'52.0"W · 43.824444, -88.964444

www.google.com

What I am asking myself, if he were "leading a double life", say, professionally, would he not have an account in European Bank and money in it? I think whatever he did to have the money, would be something like embezzlement.
Also, I don't know what ebike did he have, but don't some have GPS? Would be interesting to know about his travels

 

[caradana]

What I am asking myself, if he were "leading a double life", say, professionally, would he not have an account in European Bank and money in it? I think whatever he did to have the money, would be something like embezzlement.
Also, I don't know what ebike did he have, but don't some have GPS? Would be interesting to know about his travels

Charlot123, my perception is that you’re a smart and sharp woman who would’ve planned ahead much more adroitly than this guy did! If he embezzled, he did a horrible job of it. One of my college thesis readers was a man who made a fortune with a book that argued, successfully, that monkeys throwing darts at the Wall Street Journal could pick stocks about as well as active portfolio managers can. Those monkeys probably could’ve also handled financial transfers with more adeptness than Mr. Borgwardt.
(John Bogle)

 

[minneolo]

Charlot123, my perception is that you’re a smart and sharp woman who would’ve planned ahead much more adroitly than this guy did! If he embezzled, he did a horrible job of it. One of my college thesis readers was a man who made a fortune with a book that argued, successfully, that monkeys throwing darts at the Wall Street Journal could pick stocks about as well as active portfolio managers can. Those monkeys probably could’ve also handled financial transfers with more adeptness than Mr. Borgwardt.
(John Bogle)

Fellow boglehead? 3 fund portfolio to the moon!

And I agree we should leave Ryan to his own devices / the bed he’s made and hope his partner and kids have good support to simply move on from him.

 

[Charlot123]

Charlot123, my perception is that you’re a smart and sharp woman who would’ve planned ahead much more adroitly than this guy did! If he embezzled, he did a horrible job of it. One of my college thesis readers was a man who made a fortune with a book that argued, successfully, that monkeys throwing darts at the Wall Street Journal could pick stocks about as well as active portfolio managers can. Those monkeys probably could’ve also handled financial transfers with more adeptness than Mr. Borgwardt.
(John Bogle)

Well, he did what he planned to!
But what does a story on a 45 year old man living quietly in a small town in SE Wisconsin, a cabinet maker, a family man, all proper, who suddenly falls in love online with a person in the other part of the world, prepares his disappearance for half a year, transfers money in banks, fakes death, gets a second passport, escapes through Canada and is seen in Turkey very much alive, tell us?

Version one: by personality, he might resemble that very famous ER doctor who disappeared in Missouri and whose body was found in Arkansas. If so, it makes no sense looking for further explanations as to what happened because they don’t exist.
(TBH, at some photos, RB does look intense).

2) if the first explanation is wrong, then we have to conclude that a huge portion of RB’s life was not what it seemed, that he knowingly became involved in something nefarious and then staged own disappearance. How to make enough money to transfer to European banks if you are living in a 23K-city in WI is a very interesting question. All my darts in this case are landing in approximately the same area, but I’d be interested in other scenarios.

 

[Trino]

Let's keep in mind this midwestern guy was a kayaker (and likely an outdoorsman all his life). If he's fit enough for kayaking, I think he's fit and capable of a long ebike ride at night as a very motivated rider. He wanted to make that trip more than he even cared about his family - that's determination!

He might be lying a big lie or he might be telling the truth, or his story might be in between. I await further info, but for now, I think he got out of the country on his own (except for advice) and I'm not tossing away the idea of an ebike just yet.

But as long as we are scrutinizing his escape story, what did he do with the inflatable raft he said he used to stage the kayak? Did LE find that, I wonder?

jmo

In addition to a bicyclist I am a also former white water kayaker. (I've had a lot of "former" lives. I also raced canoes.) I did not do both in the same decade. You must be aware that kayaking uses upper arms and NOT legs. Totally different.

 

[Trino]

Let's keep in mind this midwestern guy was a kayaker (and likely an outdoorsman all his life). If he's fit enough for kayaking, I think he's fit and capable of a long ebike ride at night as a very motivated rider. He wanted to make that trip more than he even cared about his family - that's determination!

He might be lying a big lie or he might be telling the truth, or his story might be in between. I await further info, but for now, I think he got out of the country on his own (except for advice) and I'm not tossing away the idea of an ebike just yet.

But as long as we are scrutinizing his escape story, what did he do with the inflatable raft he said he used to stage the kayak? Did LE find that, I wonder?

jmo

He may or may not be a cyclist, but it’s more likely he would be a road cyclist than in most places in the US - active outdoor lifestyles are pretty common.

70 miles on an ebike - totally doable if he is a decent road cyclist. I recently did an e-cycle tour in Oregon, and my rental bike topped out at 22 mph on flat ground. If he had spare batteries he could have been hitting the throttle on all the uphills.

When spring 2025 arrives, how about duplicating his route? Ride with GPS would give you the best route, which, assuming RB cycled. At night, of course. Certainly would prove your point.