(CNN) — Ryan Borgwardt, a married father of three, has been missing since August after leaving for a relaxing fishing trip on Green Lake, about an hour north of his home in Watertown, Wisconsin. Investigators now suspect that the experienced kayaker faked his own death and fled to Europe via Canada.

Local and state authorities, along with volunteers, searched for the 44-year-old for 54 days, fearing he might have drowned and his body was somewhere at the bottom of the lake, Green Lake Sheriff Mark Podoll said at a news conference Friday. .

Bruce’s Legacy, a nonprofit that helps law enforcement search for drowned bodies, deployed high-end sonar equipment to scan the lake bottom, while the sheriff’s office used drones to search from above for signs of Borgwardt. At one point, cadaver dogs were brought in.

After eight weeks, all of Green Lake had been searched, Podoll said. There was no sign of Borgwardt.

“On Oct. 7, I called my team together — my three detectives and my deputy — and we talked and said, ‘We need to go in a different direction,’” Podoll said.

Investigators suspect Borgwardt did not drown, but apparently faked his own death before entering Canada, Podoll said.

As investigators delved into Borgwardt’s life, they discovered that he had transferred money to a foreign bank account, changed his email address and communicated with a woman in Uzbekistan. In January, Borgwardt took out a $375,000 life insurance policy, Podoll said.

“These discoveries of the new evidence made us certain that Ryan was not in our lake,” Podoll said.

We follow Ryan’s steps

According to officials, Borgwardt was reported missing on the morning of August 12 after he failed to return home from a fishing trip. That morning, his capsized kayak was found in the lake and his vehicle, along with a trailer, was found in a nearby park, Podoll said.

The next day, two fishermen casting along the lake found a fishing rod that belonged to Borgwardt, his wife told officials. Later that day, a tackle box was found containing a number of Borgwardt’s belongings: a set of keys, a wallet and his driver’s license.

Podoll’s team discovered months later that Canadian officials “checked” Borgwardt’s passport on the same day he entered Canada, according to Green Lake Sheriff Deputy Chief Matt Vande Kolk, who said officials have reason to believe he had a new passport used.

According to Podoll, the discovery that Borgwardt may have left the country prompted investigators to search his computer.

Through a digital forensic analysis, investigators discovered that Borgwardt had replaced his laptop’s hard drive and deleted his browser history on the day of his disappearance, Podoll said.

“We found out that he had transferred money to a foreign bank, changed his email address and communicated with a woman in Uzbekistan,” Podoll said. “He took out a $375,000 life insurance policy in January and bought airline tickets.”

Borgwardt is now likely in Eastern Europe, Vande Kolk told CNN. It is unclear who the woman in Uzbekistan is, Podoll added.

“There are still many steps our investigation needs to take,” Podoll said. “It’s a puzzle we’re putting together… we have a lot of pieces, but we need to find a lot more pieces.”

According to Podoll, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigations are now involved in the case.

Podoll says officials are working to determine if crimes were committed and if anyone helped Borgwardt. No charges have been filed against Borgwardt, the sheriff’s office said in an email to CNN on Tuesday.

Officials are also seeking “restitution for the costs of the searches funded by taxpayers,” Podoll said.

Keith Cormican, director of Bruce’s Legacy, told CNN he worked on the case for nearly 30 days. The first two weeks of the search alone will cost him about $10,000 because of damaged equipment and other costs, he said.

“We had our share of problems out there in such a difficult lake,” Cormican told CNN on Tuesday.

Cormican has been involved in safety diving for more than 30 years and says he founded the nonprofit in 2013 in honor of his brother Bruce, who drowned during a canoe trip.

Searching for missing persons is a stressful job, Cormican added, and the inability to locate Borgwardt caused him a lot of emotional stress.

“My success rate is pretty good,” Cormican told CNN. ‘Not being able to find him… really made me doubt my abilities. And I lost a lot of sleep because of it.”

Anyone with information about Borgwardt’s disappearance is encouraged to call the Green Lake Sheriff’s Office, Podoll said. Tips can be left anonymously.

Podoll also called on Borgwardt to come home: “Ryan, if you are watching this, I urge you to contact us or contact your family,” he said. “We understand that things can happen, but there is a family that wants their father back.”