Marcus Schrenker, pictured here with wife Michelle, seemed to be living the good life before he jumped out of a plane and disappeared, leaving a trail of lawsuits and court judgments behind.
(Courtesy Tom Britt/AtGeist.com)
Schrenker was at the controls of a single-engine Piper Malibu when he sent out what authorities describe as a phony distress call while flying over northern Alabama, Sunday evening.
He told air traffic controllers that he was experiencing turbulence, that his windshield had blown into the plane and that he was bleeding profusely.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the controllers lost contact with Schrenker shortly after but continued to track his plane for more than two hours before it crashed in Milton, Fla., about 230 miles away.
Military jet pilots, who had been deployed to monitor the Piper Malibu, reported that the door to the plane was open midair and that the cockpit was dark. The jets followed the plane until it crashed.
While Florida police were investigating the crash, Schrenker turned up in Childersburg, Ala., and asked an officer to take him to the nearby Harpersville Motel, reportedly saying he had been in a canoeing accident. Unaware of the investigation in Milton, authorities obliged, noting that he was carrying goggles police described as those that might be used for flying.
According to a news release issued by the Santa Rose Sheriff's Office in Florida Monday, Schrenker was wet from the knees down but had no visible injuries -- contradicting his reported claim to the air traffic controllers that he was bleeding profusely.
Harpersville Police Chief David Latimer told ABCNews.com that Schrenker "said he wanted to meet some friends" at the motel.
Once they realized that he was linked to the Milton accident, police went back to the hotel and found that Schrenker, who had checked in under a fake name, had put on a black cap and run off into the woods, having paid for his room with cash.
"What he was doing was trying to get back to Harpersville so he could get the motorcycle and take off," Latimer said.
Police also found clothes in the storage facility's Dumpster they believe belong to Schrenker, "the same clothing he had on the surveillance video we obtained from Harpersville Motel," Latimer said.
"It's shocking, but it doesn't surprise me," Britt said, pointing out that Schrenker had the aviation skills and the money to pull off such a stunt.
Britt, who has known Schrenker for about five years and helped him advertise his newest business venture, Icon Wealth Management, said there were two distinct sides to Schrenker.
"There was kind of this nice guy and this loose cannon I keep hearing about," he said.
Britt said that while Schrenker would go out of his way to support the local community -- he once donated money to fight a municipal squabble -- he wasn't popular with many that did business with him. There were stories, Britt said, of threats and verbal arguments.
Britt said he's reached out to Schrenker's wife. The e-mail, he said, spoke of his love for Michelle Schrenker and their children.
Schrenker's wife, Michelle, had filed for divorce last month and a hearing had been set for Feb. 5, according to court documents.
Galoozis speculated that the economic crisis got to him because he invested other peoples' money.
"I just hope that he slows down, settles down, looks at the big picture and gets some help," Galoozis said.
Until the last week's events, life appeared to be good for Schrenker. He had a $4 million waterfront house, a beautiful wife and three children.
But he was living under mounting scrutiny as lawsuits and accusations about his business dealings began to pile up.
Schrenker and his investment advisory firm, Heritage Wealth Management Inc., were sued last month by Kansas-based Creative Marketing International Corp., which is trying to recoup $1.4 million in reported losses Creative Marketing claims it incurred after Schrenker failed to repay commissions from insurance and annuity policies.
According to the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Indiana's Indianapolis Division, Schrenker was hired by National Western Life Insurance Co., a client of Creative Marketing, to procure applications for life insurance and annuities.
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