Ryan Borgwardt, 45, pleaded no contest to obstructing an officer. Both prosecution and defence recommended 45 days in jail, but the judge matched the sentence to the length of his disappearance. The maximum penalty was nine months.

“I deeply regret the actions that I did that night and all the pain that I caused my family and friends,” Borgwardt said in court.

He vanished in August 2024 after texting his wife that he was returning from kayaking on Green Lake. His kayak and life jacket were found, prompting an extensive search.

Prosecutors said Borgwardt had researched how to disappear and believed the lake’s depth would conceal a body. He travelled to Georgia, where he began a relationship with a woman he had met online.

He returned to the US in December and was charged.