Indianapolis man charged in plane crash

CHATTAHOOCHEE, Fla. – An Indiana investment manager allegedly staged a plane crash to evade personal and financial ruin by faking a distress call, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals said.

The charges came a day after investigators tracked Marcus Schrenker, 38, to a campground in north Florida. He had apparently tried to kill himself by slitting his wrists, investigators said.

The saga started Sunday night when military jets intercepted the plane after authorities received a distress call that claimed Schrenker’s windshield had blown in.

Schrenker’s body was nowhere to be found in the wreckage, and authorities suspect he parachuted out of the plane in Alabama.

Schrenker, who already faces mounting debt, complaints that he unfairly cheated investors out of savings and a crumbling marriage, is looking at more trouble ahead. He also faces charges in Indiana that he acted as a financial manager with an expired license.

“We were happy to know that he is alive and safe,” said Jeffrey Wehmueller, administrative chief deputy for Indiana’s Hamilton County. “But now we’re going to make sure he’s being held properly accountable for his actions.”