TikTok clip appears to show runaway dad Ryan Borgwardt months before faked death

A TikTok video may show a Wisconsin father discussing plans to run away from his family, months before cops say he faked his own death and did exactly that.

Ryan Borgwardt, 44, faked his death in a kayaking accident and fled to Eastern Europe, according to authorities. Before leaving, he was communicating with a woman in Uzbekistan, investigators learned.

In a June 4 TikTok video shared by @authenticalpha — an account run by Baylee Boomhower in which she dishes free advice to random strangers — a man on a bike asks, “Should I go to Uzbekistan or stay here?”

When Boomhower asks, “Why do you want to go?”, the man in the video replies, “meet a woman.”

While the original clip was edited to under a minute, Boomhower shared a full 3-minute, 30-second video of the interaction on Wednesday, after news of Borgwardt’s fake death spread nationally.

Borgwardt was last heard from on the night of Aug. 11. At the time, he told his wife he was kayaking on Green Lake, about 75 miles northwest of Milwaukee, and would be returning home soon. But he never showed.

Authorities spent almost two months scouring the lake and found several of Borgwardt’s possessions but not his body. In early October, cops learned his passport had been used in Canada and began investigating his actions, leading them to believe he was alive and had left his wife and three children.

In the TikTok video, the man asking questions, who also bears a striking resemblance to Borgwardt, says he is married and considering a divorce. However, he implies that he has not discussed the matter much with his wife. He seeks a “yes or no” answer to his question about Uzbekistan, but Boomhower instead suggests a conversation with his wife.

“The answer depends on where your marriage stands,” she says. “So sort out your marriage and get back to me.”

As the man bikes away apparently unsatisfied, Boomhower turns to the camera with a confused expression on her face. The original video was captioned, “Pacific beach has some interesting people,” referencing the San Diego neighborhood where it was filmed.

At a Nov. 7 press conference, cops in Green Lake County, Wis., encouraged Borgwardt to return home to his family. It is unclear if he would be charged with any crimes upon returning.