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Pilot likely faked distress13/01/2009 07:59 - (SA)

Milton, Florida - An Indiana businessman whose financial management companies were under investigation apparently made a fake distress call, bailed out of his small plane and then let it crash in a Florida panhandle swamp.
Authorities searched on Monday for Marcus Schrenker after he made the distress call and apparently secretly parachuted to safety near Birmingham, Alabama. His single-engine plane continued flying on autopilot and eventually crashed late on Sunday more than 322km away in a swampy area of the Florida Panhandle.
In the weeks before the crash, Schrenker's life was spiralling 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 on Monday morning in Childersburg, Alabama, just south of Birmingham, when a man using his Indiana driver's licence 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 investigation into the crash began on Sunday night, when Schrenker's single-engine Piper Malibu crashed in a swampy area of north Florida.
The plane was en route from Anderson, Indiana, 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.
'It could have taken out two or three houses'
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.
Bill and Debbie Timbie, whose house is less than 100 yards from where the plane crashed, were home on Sunday night when they heard the jets flying overhead. Bill Timbie gave rescuers looking for the downed plane a ride through the swamp in his canoe.
"Now, after you think about it, it could have been real bad, it could have taken out two or three houses," he said on Monday.
The case grew stranger on Monday morning, when the man with Schrenker's licence told police in Childersburg - about 362km 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. Jim Gavin, a spokesperson for Indiana's secretary of state, said investigators are looking at possible securities violations, and officers who searched Schrenker's home on December 31 were looking for laptops, computers, notes, photos and other documents related to those companies.
Court records show his wife, Michelle, filed for divorce a day before the searches.
Gavin said the Indiana Securities Division obtained a temporary restraining order on Monday freezing the personal assets of Marcus Schrenker and Michelle Schrenker and the assets of the three companies.
- AP