E-mail led police to pilot's tent

— -- Marcus Schrenker thought he would never be found again when he leaped out of his plane over rural Alabama, police say.

His elaborate plan involved a fake distress call to air-traffic controllers, ditching the single-engine plane and riding off on a motorcycle, according to a complaint filed in federal court Wednesday.

An investment adviser who was facing accusations of defrauding clients of millions of dollars, Schrenker had maps, a tent, a first aid kit, cold- and warm-weather clothes and about $2,600 in cash, said Lt. Jim Corder of the Gadsden County, Fla., Sheriff's Office.

"He had every intention of hiding his identity for the rest of his life," Corder said.

Schrenker's plan fell apart with a single e-mail to a friend, Corder said. The friend turned it over to police, and they tracked its source to a laptop that accessed the Internet at a campground in northern Florida.

After evading a manhunt that involved federal, state and local law enforcement officials from Indiana, Alabama and Florida, Schrenker was found in a tent Tuesday night at a KOA campground in Quincy, Fla. Although the search is over, agencies are just beginning to figure out what charges he will face.

"We're going to do a roundtable and find out who's going to get him first," Corder said.

The U.S. attorney's office in Pensacola, Fla., went first, charging Schrenker on Wednesday with placing a false distress call and purposefully crashing his plane.

He faced about $9 million in court judgments and legal claims, according to a review of court documents by the Associated Press. According to a letter he wrote in early December, he was planning to file for bankruptcy. Corder said the U.S. Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration are involved to determine whether further charges are necessary.

On Wednesday, Schrenker was in a Tallahassee hospital recovering from an attempt to kill himself by taking aspirin tablets to thin his blood and slashing his right arm, Corder said. Schrenker was found lying in his blood and unconscious, Corder said.