A man who faked his own death to start a new life sent his wife texts moments before vanishing to suggest something bad may have happened to him.

Ryan Borgwardt disappeared on August 11 last year after kayaking in Green Lake, Wisconsin.

In reality, he had been planning his disappearance for months to abandon his wife and children and start a new life with a woman he had met online from Uzbekistan, prosecutors said.

Before vanishing, Borgwardt texted his then-wife, Emily, that he "may have snuck out on a lake" to watch the northern lights.

Emily replied: "That would have been nice to know. I was beginning to wonder why you weren't home," according to case documents released by the Green Lake County Sheriff's Office.

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