Ryan Borgwardt is not the man in viral TikTok video, Green Lake County Sheriff says

GREEN LAKE – Authorities say a viral video on social media of a guy who looks like Ryan Borgwardt It’s probably not him.

Green Lake County Deputy Sheriff Matthew Vande Kolk confirmed law enforcement has seen the TikTok post but does not believe the missing kayaker suspected of staging his own disappearance is the same person in the video.

Vande Kolk revealed that the sheriff’s office has been in contact with content creator Baylee Boomhower, who posted the Borgwardt “lookalike” video, but they are not treating it as a “high priority lead.”

“We are not actively pursuing this as a lead in this case, but we have seen the video and we have contact information for the individuals involved,” Vande Kolk told Northwestern on Nov. 14.

“We don’t think it’s Ryan,” he added.

The TitTok video is the latest development in the story of the missing Watertown man

The TikTok video, which has more than 4 million views, is the latest development in a story that captured a national audience after the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office revealed Borgwardt is suspected of having staged his death and fled to Europe.

Married with three children, Borgwardt, 44, was originally thought to be missing Aug. 12 when he failed to return to his Watertown home after kayaking on Green Lake.

Law enforcement officials apparently uncovered Borgwardt’s plan to stage his disappearance after an investigation showed Borgwardt had a different passport, replaced his laptop’s hard drive, asked about moving money to foreign banks and took out $375,000 worth of life insurance earlier this year.

A digital forensic analysis of the laptop also showed Borgwardt had communications with a woman from Uzbekistan — a point that raised Boomhower’s suspicions, according to a WBAY Action 2 news report.

Timeline: Key events in the case of Ryan Borgwardt, the Wisconsin man who may have faked his death

In the TikTok video, shot in June at Pacific Beach in California, Boomhower gives an “ask me for free advice” before a guy who looks like Borgwardt rides up on a bike and asks her if he should go to Uzbekistan “for to meet a woman.”

The Borgwardt lookalike tells Boomhower that he’s married, but his kids “are out of the house now.”

In the Action 2 interview, Boomhower said she found it odd that Borgwardt was also linked to Uzbekistan.

Several other content creators and social media users attempted to make a similar connection, prompting the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office to debunk the theory on Facebook.

In a Nov. 13 post, the office said, “we have confirmed this is not Ryan by contacting people who know Ryan.”

No additional information was made available as the sheriff’s office is still working with the FBI, the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigations and the Mid-States Organized Crime Information Center to “continue to unravel the available digital information.”

Local authorities began to believe that Borgwardt was not “missing” on Green Lake after an extensive 54-day search that included aerial and underwater drones, towbar, sonar, scuba divers and three K-9 cadaver teams.

With the assistance of Mid-State’s Organized Crime Information Center, authorities quickly determined Borgwardt’s name was checked by Canadian law enforcement on Aug. 13 — a day after he was reported missing.

This led to the discovery that Borgwardt was given a second passport after he reported the first one missing. His family easily found the first passport.

Subsequent analysis of his laptop then led authorities to believe that Borgwardt staged his disappearance.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office at 920-294-4134, ext. 1162.

Contact Justin Marville at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on the Fond du Lac Reporter: Ryan Borgwardt TikTok video: It’s not him, says sheriff