Authorities in Green Lake, Wisconsin, say that a local man who went missing while kayaking this summer may have staged his own death and fled to Europe. We believe that he is alive. We know that he’s not in our lake,” Matthew Vande Kolk, Chief Deputy Sheriff for Green Lake County, told the BBC.Ryan Borgwardt, 45, a married father of three, was last seen on 12 August at Green Lake while on a solo fishing trip.Officials found evidence that Mr. Borgwardt had used his passport after his disappearance and may have traveled to Europe. Mr. Borgwardt had last texted his wife on the night of 11 August. The message said he was turning his kayak around and heading to shore soon.But when he failed to return home, his family contacted law enforcement, who sent out a search-and-rescue team, which found his capsized kayak and life jacket on the lake. Mr. Borgwardt’s car, trailer, fishing rod, and wallet were all left at the park nearby. After 54 days of extensive search efforts by divers, drones, sonar, and cadaver dogs, no body was recovered and no evidence turned up. That caused the sheriff’s office to widen its scope.The case took a turn in October when investigators discovered Mr. Borgwardt’s name had been checked by border officials in Canada on 13 August, the day after he was reported missing. Investigators then learned that Mr. Borgwardt had reported his passport lost or stolen and was issued a new one prior to his disappearance. His previous passport was later recovered from his wife, indicating he may have traveled on the new document. Following this lead, officials conducted a digital forensic analysis of Mr. Borgwardt’s laptop, and they found that he had taken out a $375,000 life insurance policy, had transferred funds to a foreign bank account, photographed his new passport, and altered his email address before he vanished.