The search for Ryan Borgwardt’s body in a lake has dragged on since August. Now, investigators think he might have staged his disappearance and fled to Europe.

The Green Lake County Sheriff's Office on Friday announced it believes a kayaker, initially thought to have gone missing this summer, may have actually faked his own death.

A Wisconsin kayaker is believed to have faked his death earlier this year in a bid to leave his family and flee to Europe, according to investigators on Friday. Ryan Borgwardt, a resident of Watertown,