The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will use restitution received as part of a 2025 Green Lake County Circuit Court ruling to purchase new sonar equipment for emergency response to public safety incidents.
The case is one involving a kayaker, Ryan Borgwardt, who staged his death as a boating fatality on Big Green Lake in August 2024.
It was later found he had faked the death and had fled the country to Europe.
Borgwardt had to pay restitution to the DNR for its approximately 350 hours of staff time spent searching for him. Part of the funds, about $9,000, were used to buy a towfish sonar, which can map the bottom of bodies of water to search for missing persons and more.
The unit has already been used to find and locate two missing people.
“The towfish unit is a vital tool to our program that will assist in bringing closure to families and communities when tragedy strikes,” Lt. Drew Starch, who oversees the DNR’s underwater search and recovery team, said in a statement. “The new equipment will be used in searches for the truly missing and help those waiting on the shore.”
