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Quincy, Florida - Troubled Financial Manager Accused of Faking Death By Plane Crash Arrested in Florida

Published on:   Jan 14, 2009 at 07:46 AM
News Source: CNN
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Marcus Schrenker
Marcus Schrenker
Quincy, Florida - Marcus Schrenker, the financial manager who officials say faked his own death in a plane crash after scamming his customers, has been found after an apparent suicide attempt, Florida and federal authorities said Tuesday.

Schrenker was found at a campsite near Quincy, Florida, with "deep cuts on his wrists," according to a statement by a Florida-based U.S. Marshals Service task force.

Schrenker was bleeding profusely when about 20 officers approached his tent, said Deputy U.S. Marshal John Beeman.

Schrenker was treated at the scene and then taken to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, authorities said.

Schrenker, who had been missing since Sunday, did not suffer life-threatening injuries and was being guarded at the hospital, Beeman said.

Schrenker was charged in Hamilton County, Indiana, on Tuesday with unlawful acts by a compensated adviser and unlawful transaction by an investment adviser.

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Authorities believe Schrenker defrauded investors through three companies he owns before attempting a bizarre and potentially deadly vanishing act.

Schrenker took off alone Sunday night from Anderson, Indiana, in a Piper PA-46 en route to Destin, Florida.

Over Alabama, he contacted air traffic controllers, saying the windshield had imploded and he was bleeding profusely, authorities said. Police suspect he then put the aircraft on autopilot and parachuted to the ground.

The plane later crashed near the Blackwater River in East Milton, Florida, missing a group of homes by only 50 to 75 yards, said Sgt. Scott Haines of the Santa Rosa County, Florida, sheriff's department.

"We do consider him dangerous," Beeman said Thursday. "He has shown his disregard for life by letting this plane go unmanned until it crashed into the ground in Florida."

Shortly before 2:30 a.m. Monday, hours after the crash, Schrenker showed up at a residence in Childersburg, Alabama, and said he had been in a canoeing accident, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

A resident gave him a ride into Childersburg, and police made contact with him, identifying him through his FAA pilot's license, authorities said. Childersburg is about 35 miles south of Birmingham.

Unaware of the crash, the officers took Schrenker to a hotel in nearby Harpersville. After hearing about the crash, they went back to the hotel, where they found that Schrenker had checked in under a fictitious name and was gone, possibly into a wooded area, police said.

Officials now believe he fled Harpersville on a 2008 red Yamaha street bike he had stashed at a storage unit earlier, also using an assumed name. Investigators found the unit empty of the motorcycle and with some wet clothes left behind.

When leasing the storage facility, Schrenker brought the motorcycle in a brown pickup with a trailer and told the leasing agent he would return for it Monday, according to the Marshals Service.

Back in Florida, military aircraft from Whiting Field in Milton, Florida, were dispatched Sunday to intercept the plane after Schrenker reported the emergency. The pilots saw that the plane's door was open, the cockpit was dark and witnessed the plane's crash, according to the Santa Rosa County sheriff's office.

Although Schrenker had said he was bleeding, no blood was found in the downed plane.

Before authorities said Tuesday night that Schrenker was found, friends of Schrenker's seemed as mystified as police, who were seeking him in several states.

"Why someone would jump out of a plane and leave it on autopilot with his training and his background is beyond me," Tom Britt said. "There's no reason for him to do it other than trying to stage something."

Britt said he received an e-mail Monday night from someone who identified himself as Schrenker. The message said Schrenker had been reading accounts of his disappearance on CNN.com and other news outlets and was "disturbed and wanted to set the record straight," Britt told CNN affiliate WRTV in Indianapolis.

Britt said the message writer said that he would never abandon a plane and let it crash somewhere but that he panicked.

The writer claimed he blacked out and was disoriented, Britt said.

The e-mail also implied that Schrenker might commit suicide, Britt said. The message said, "By the time you read this, I'll be gone."

On Monday, a judge in Indiana froze Schrenker's assets at the request of investigators looking into his business dealings, said Jim Gavin, a spokesman for the Indiana secretary of state. The order also applies to Schrenker's wife, who was seeking a divorce, and his three companies, Gavin said.

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Those companies -- Heritage Wealth Management, Heritage Insurance Services and Icon Wealth Management -- are "the subjects of an active investigation by the Indiana Securities Division," Gavin said. Public documents list Schrenker as president of Heritage Wealth Management in Fishers, Indiana.

Court papers contain allegations that Schrenker defrauded several investors. A search warrant related to the inquiry was served December 31, Gavin said.


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Read Comments (6)  —  Post Yours »

1

 Jan 14, 2009 at 08:22 AM Anonymous Says:

Amazing Wow .what a story so here are all the rich with the porsches and mercedes going ?that's why they drive so fast they want to commit suicide

2

 Jan 14, 2009 at 08:19 AM amazing Says:

good news that he is alive and well. thank all involved for the rescue.

3

 Jan 14, 2009 at 10:23 AM cool masmid Says:

Its going to take some convincing by his attorney to the judge that he should be out on bail as he is not a flight risk....... If you know what I mean.... Lol.

4

 Jan 14, 2009 at 10:41 AM vin reader Says:

Reply to #3  
cool masmid Says:

Its going to take some convincing by his attorney to the judge that he should be out on bail as he is not a flight risk....... If you know what I mean.... Lol.

what do you mean?

5

 Jan 14, 2009 at 11:38 AM Long Memory Says:

I think his Zeydeh made lopsided crooked book shelves in Brooklyn fifty years ago. Remember that store?

6

 Jan 14, 2009 at 08:13 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #2  
amazing Says:

good news that he is alive and well. thank all involved for the rescue.

He wasn't rescued. He was arrested for for faking his own death in a plane crash to avoid prosecution for investment fraud.

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