GREEN LAKE (NBC 26) — It's a case that has grabbed national headlines: a married father of three who allegedly staged his own death and then fled the country.
But as sensational as it is, how can a case this big be investigated?
NBC 26 spoke with local experts to find out.
Aaron Zemlock, a Fox Valley Technical College criminal justice instructor, said there's a method to investigate a case with this many twists.
"The bigger the case, it really comes down to breaking it down, into its smaller parts," Zemlock said
Zemlock said it could take time to bring any potential charges.
"If you're going to get a prosecution on something, you have to be able to prove it," Zemlock said. "You know, suppositions or guesses or hypotheses don't land a conviction, right? You have to have the proof."
Watch: How cases like the missing Green Lake kayaker are investigated, experts explain
Ryan Borgwardt, a 45-year-old Watertown man, went missing during a kayaking trip in August.
After eight weeks of searching, law enforcement said they had evidence that Borgwardt faked his own death and fled the country.
"So we would call it a 'pseudocide,' where someone fakes their own death," said Marian University criminal psychology instructor Ryan Dronek.
Dronek said people may fake their deaths for many reasons.
"Traditionally, we see financial crimes, so insurance fraud is a reason why someone might, might do this, we see individuals want to avoid being caught by law enforcement for other crime," Dronek said.
Zemlock said he isn’t sure about specific statutes against staging one’s death, but that doesn’t mean there isn't necessarily a crime involved.
"Tangentially, there's a lot of things... the number of days that people spent on this rescue and the liability from a cost standpoint, certainly, you know, fraudulent documents, or duping documents to escape notice, or capture, things like that... those obviously are chargeable offenses," Zemlock said.
In the meantime, the case has drawn national attention.
Zemlock and Dronek said while social media hype can help law enforcement find more tips, there are also some drawbacks.
"There's really a give and take when it comes to using the internet to help law enforcement solve crimes," Dronek said.
"It kind of creates a situation where people have more access to things that they can share with [law enforcement], so that part of it is good," Zemlock said. "But sometimes people that get a little bit overzealous with the information end up releasing information that's not accurate."
NBC 26 reached out to Gerise Laspisa, the district attorney for Green Lake County. So far, she has declined comment.
The Green Lake County Sheriff's Office announced a press conference on this case for Thursday morning.
