A Wisconsin man who investigators said faked his own drowning this summer so he could abandon his wife and three children is alive somewhere in Eastern Europe, police said Thursday.

Ryan Borgwardt has been communicating with police since Nov. 11, Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll announced at a news conference. He showed a video that Borgwardt sent police that day from an undisclosed location. Police don91裸聊视频檛 know exactly where he is, but Podoll said it was somewhere in Eastern Europe.

91裸聊视频淭he great news is we know that he is alive and well,91裸聊视频� Podoll said. 91裸聊视频淭he bad news is we don91裸聊视频檛 know where Ryan exactly is and he has not yet decided to return home.91裸聊视频�

Podoll said police have been in daily contact with him and no criminal charges have been filed.

91裸聊视频淗e needs to return home to his children,91裸聊视频� Podoll said. 91裸聊视频淚f he chooses not to return, it91裸聊视频檚 on his own free will. 91裸聊视频� We keep pulling at his heart strings.91裸聊视频�

Borgwardt91裸聊视频檚 disappearance was first investigated as a possible drowning after he went kayaking on Green Lake, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Milwaukee. But subsequent clues, including that he obtained a new passport three months before he disappeared, led investigators to speculate that he faked his death to meet up with a woman he had been communicating with in Uzbekistan.

He was last heard from the night of Aug. 11 when he texted his wife in Watertown shortly before 11 p.m., saying he was headed to shore after kayaking.

Deputies located his vehicle and trailer near the lake. They also found his overturned kayak with a life jacket attached to it in an area where the lake91裸聊视频檚 waters run more than 200 feet (60 meters) deep. An angler later discovered Borgwardt91裸聊视频檚 fishing rod.

Investigators initially speculated that Borgwardt91裸聊视频檚 kayak capsized and he didn91裸聊视频檛 have a life jacket. The search for his body went on for more than 50 days, with divers on several occasions exploring the lake.

In early October, the sheriff91裸聊视频檚 department learned that Canadian law enforcement authorities had run Borgwardt91裸聊视频檚 name through their databases the day after he was reported missing. Further investigation revealed that he had reported his passport lost or stolen and had obtained a new one in May.

Police said the analysis of a laptop revealed a digital trail that showed Borgwardt planned to head to Europe and tried to mislead investigators.

Police said the laptop91裸聊视频檚 hard drive had been replaced and the browsers had been cleared the day Borgwardt disappeared. Investigators found passport photos, inquiries about moving money to foreign banks, and communication with a woman from Uzbekistan. They also discovered that he took out a $375,000 life insurance policy in January.