GREEN LAKE (NBC 26) — Keith Cormican spent weeks searching Green Lake and reviewing sonar footage, trying to find Ryan Borgwardt, a Watertown man that many once believed drowned on a kayaking trip in August.
Now, the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Department believes, Borgwardt faked his own death and left the country.
I spoke with Cormican, asking about his thoughts now on the search, and the shocking news.
After the death of his brother, a firefighter, Cormican founded Bruce's Legacy, an all-volunteer nonprofit to search and recover drowned victims.
Cormican joined the Green Lake County Sheriff's Office in its search for Borgwardt, shortly after he disappeared.
"The stress of it... emotional feelings of wondering if I missed him... did I let the family down? Did I let the sheriff department down? Did I let the community down?" Cormican said.
Watch: Founder of Bruce's Legacy reflects on lengthy search for man now believed to have faked his death
In total, Keith spent 23 days on the lake and at least 10 more reviewing sonar footage.
"That was certainly very, very tough to deal with emotionally," Cormican said. "There was many nights that... I'd get up in middle of the night because I couldn't sleep, and I would get up and get on the laptop and start going through sonar data."
In October, law enforcement searched Borgwardt’s laptop and found a string of clues leading them to believe he faked his own death and fled the country, possibly traveling to Europe.
"My first emotion was, 'Okay, I didn't miss him—it's he just wasn't there," Cormican said.
Cormican said he felt a sense of relief that Borgwardt is now believed to be alive, though he's is troubled about the situation left behind.
"I feel very, very sorry for the family that you know is having to go through this type of circumstances dealing with now what? What happens next for them? Yeah, pretty tough," Cormican said.
Cormican said now, he plans to focus on another missing person search in Wyoming that he had to postpone during the search for Borgwardt, and says this incident won’t change his mission to find missing people.
