Final texts between wife and kayaker who vanished to run off with mistress in Europe revealed

Text messages sent by the panicked wife of a father-of-three who faked his own death to start a new life with his mistress have been revealed.

Ryan Borgwardt's loved ones were left distraught when he didn't return home from a solo kayaking trip at Green Lake in the US state of Wisconsin in August last year.

The 46-year-old had told his wife of 22 years Emily that he had 'snuck out' to get a glimpse of the Northern Lights - but he was actually engineering his own disappearance.

He planned to leave his spouse and their three children behind to begin a new life in the European country of Georgia with a woman who he had met on a dating site in December 2023.

Borgwardt's scheme all hinged on his family believing that he had drowned in Green Lake and a court later heard how he thought the 'great depth' of it would make it understandable that a body would not surface.

To make it look like his late night kayaking trip had ended in tragedy, the dad sent Emily a series of text messages to sell this fabricated story.

Newly released documents from the Green Lake County Sheriff's Office show how Borgwardt sent the mother of his children a text message saying: "May have snuck out on a lake."

Confused as to why her husband had slipped off without informing her, Emily responded: "That would have been nice to know. I was beginning to wonder why you weren't home."

Borgwardt told his wife he had 'snuck out' to see the Northern Lights on the evening that he disappeared (Facebook)

Borgwardt then apologised, to which his wife said: "Nothing new. I should be used to it by now. So many nights I have no idea where you are when it's late."

The cabinetmaker, from Watertown, then appeared to attempt to defuse the situation by telling Emily he 'will work on our communication'.

"I saw the Northern Lights and they were pink," Borgwardt continued in the final messages he sent at 10.49pm. "I love you...goodnight. I'll be heading back to shore soon."

Hours later, officials located his overturned kayak and life jacket, after a search mission was launched by authorities and volunteers.

Meanwhile, Emily had become alarmed when she woke the following morning to find her husband had not got back to her after she told him she loved him too and urged him to be safe.

At 5.12am on 12 August, 2024, she sent him messages saying, 'Where are you????' and 'Babe?'

These texts went unanswered and Borgwardt was busy making his way out of Wisconsin to start a new life with his mistress.

He later told police that he overturned his kayak, made his way back to shore on an inflatable raft and hopped onto an electric bike that he had hidden nearby.

Then, the father-of-three rode through the night to Madison before catching a bus to Toronto and flying to the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi.

The dad was sentenced last month (Green Lake County Sheriff Office)

Borgwardt met up with his Uzbekistani lover Katya there, while investigators continued to dig into his mysterious disappearance.

The search for his body lasted for eight weeks and cost more than $50,000 (£36,966), according to the New York Post, until his plot was rumbled by police.

Authorities discovered he had struck up an online relationship with Katya, while it emerged Borgwardt had been checked by Canadian law enforcement two days after he vanished.

Prosecutors said he also researched how to get a new passport and new life insurance policy prior to his disappearance, while he also cleared his internet history the day he went missing.

By December last year, Borgwardt returned to the US after officials got in touch with him and he was ultimately charged with obstructing the search for his body the following month.

He told the court that he 'deeply' regretted his actions and the 'pain he caused his family and friends' before he was sentenced to serve 89 days in prison, which is the same length of time that authorities spent searching for him.

The dad was also ordered to pay $30,000 (£22,179) restitution to the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for costs spent during the search for him.

His lawyer Erik Johnson told the court: "He came back from Europe to take responsibility for his actions and I think that’s worth noting as well. If he didn't want to come back; he didn't need to come back."

Four months after Borgwardt was back on US soil, his wife Emily filed for divorce, saying their marriage was 'irretrievably broken'.