A dad from Wisconsin who works as a cop I think he staged his own demise he was in contact with a woman in Uzbekistan and took out a life insurance policy before he disappeared.

Ryan Borgwardt has not been seen by his family or authorities since August, when deputies responded to a missing persons call and found his vehicle and trailer in Green Lake County, Wisc., Sheriff Mark Podoll said at a news conference press broadcast by WFRV.

When authorities searched Green Lake, Podoll told reporters, an overturned kayak was found. The next day, searchers found Borgwardt’s fishing rod and toolbox in the lake. Inside the box was the missing man’s license.

Borgwardt, a married father of three, fit WBAYhe was not located, prompting a 54-day search involving search dogs and dive teams, Podoll said.

But the search took a different turn on Oct. 7 after Podoll said police learned Borgwardt’s name had been checked by Canadian authorities a day after he was reported missing.

“It was something we didn’t expect,” Podoll said.

The sheriff said a search of Borgwardt’s laptop led authorities to discover that he had replaced his hard drive and deleted his Internet browser history on the day he disappeared. Authorities later discovered that Borgwardt took photos of his passport, moved funds to a foreign bank account, changed his email address and communicated with a woman in Uzbekistan.

Podoll added that a few months before he disappeared, Borgwardt took out a $375,000 life insurance policy.

“Because of these discoveries of new evidence, we were certain that Ryan was not in our lake,” Podoll said.

Authorities now believe the missing father is “somewhere in Europe”.

Podoll thanked everyone who assisted in the lake search, including a volunteer search and recovery organization called Bruce’s Legacy, which has been conducting its own search for nearly a month.

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“They thought their father had drowned,” Podoll said of Borgwardt’s children. “A day ago they found out it wasn’t.”

The sheriff also thanked Borgwardt’s wife, calling her “one strong lady.”

“Ryan, if you’re watching this, please contact us or your family,” the sheriff said. “We understand that things can happen, but there is a family that wants their father back.”