Ind. man may have tried to fake plane crash death

MILTON, Fla. – An Indiana businessman whose financial management companies were under investigation apparently bailed out of his small plane and let it crash in what may have been an elaborate attempt to fake his own death.

Authorities searched Monday for Marcus Schrenker after he apparently made a phony distress call and secretly parachuted to safety near Birmingham, Ala. His single-engine plane continued flying on autopilot and eventually crashed late Sunday more than 200 miles away in a swampy area of the Florida Panhandle.

In the weeks before the crash, Schrenker’s life was spiraling downward: He lost a half-million-dollar judgment against one of his companies when he skipped a court hearing, his wife filed for divorce and investigators probing his businesses for possible securities violations searched his home and office.

Authorities believe Schrenker was last seen Monday morning in Childersburg, Ala., just south of Birmingham, when a man using his Indiana driver’s license told police that he’d been in a canoe accident. He was wet only from the knees down and had what appeared to be goggles made for flying.

The plane was en route from Anderson, Ind., to the Florida Panhandle city of Destin when Schrenker reported turbulence. He said the windshield had imploded and he was bleeding profusely, according to the sheriff’s office in Santa Rosa County where the plane crashed.

After he stopped responding to air traffic controllers, military jets tried to intercept the plane. They noticed the door was open and the cockpit was dark, and continued to follow it until it crashed in a bayou surrounded by homes.

But when investigators found the plane, its door was ajar and the wreckage showed no signs of blood or the blown windshield. The sheriff’s office said Schrenker appeared to have intentionally abandoned his plane.

The case grew stranger Monday morning, when the man with Schrenker’s license told police in Childersburg – about 225 miles from where the plane crashed – that he’d been in a canoe accident with friends.

The officers, unaware of the plane crash, took him to a hotel. He was gone by the time they returned. They learned he had paid for his room in cash before putting on a black cap and running into the woods next to the hotel.

Authorities in Indiana have said little about the nature of the investigation into Schrenker’s businesses – Heritage Wealth Management Inc., Heritage Insurance Services Inc. and Icon Wealth Management – wealth management companies that provide financial advice.