Ryan Borgwardt, Wisconsin Kayaker Who Faked His Death, Is in Custody

A Wisconsin man who faked his own drowning death in August and fled the country is in police custody several months after he disappeared, the authorities said on Wednesday.

Ryan Borgwardt, of Watertown, Wis., returned to the United States of his own accord, according to the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Mark A. Podoll said on Wednesday that Mr. Borgwardt, 45, flew back from an undisclosed country on Tuesday and had been booked in the county jail.

“He came back on his own,” Sheriff Podoll said at a news conference on Wednesday morning.

Mr. Borgwardt was expected to appear in court on Wednesday afternoon. Sheriff Podoll said he would likely face a number of charges, including obstruction. Officials are also seeking restitution for the money that was spent on the search for Mr. Borgwardt’s body.

The announcement that Mr. Borgwardt was in custody brought to an end a monthslong saga that began as an intensive search of the depths of a lake that involved sonar boats and a dive team, and ultimately became an international missing-persons case that included a number of federal agencies.

In August, Mr. Borgwardt, a 45-year-old married father of three, made it appear as though he had drowned while fishing in Green Lake, about 65 miles southwest of Green Bay, leaving behind a capsized kayak and his vehicle, Sheriff Podoll told reporters last month. Investigators also found Mr. Borgwardt’s fishing rod and a tackle box with his keys, wallet and driver’s license inside. He was reported missing on Aug. 12.

The authorities spent weeks searching the lake for his body before a digital forensic analysis of a laptop his wife had given to investigators revealed in October that Mr. Borgwardt had moved money into a foreign bank account and had been communicating with a woman in Uzbekistan, Sheriff Podoll said, leading the authorities to believe that he had fled the country.