Digital News Report- A plane crash on Sunday night has led to a bizarre game of cat and mouse as the pilot is apparently running from the law. The missing Indiana pilot, Marcus Schrenker, was reportedly having marital troubles and his wife had filed for a divorce on December 30th. Three businesses registered to Schrenker in Indiana have also become the focus of an investigation by the Indiana Secretary of State’s office, according to office spokesperson Jim Gavin.
On a flight from Anderson, Indiana to Destin, Florida, Schrenker reported turbulence shortly before describing that his windshield had imploded and that he was bleeding profusely. The single-engine Piper Malibu crashed Sunday night in a swampy area of Santa Rosa County in north Florida within 50-75 yards of houses.
Upon examination of the crash site, there was no sign of blood or a blown windshield. The door was found ajar and Schrenker’s body was missing. Officials suspect that he may have attempted to fake his own death. The sheriff’s department said that Schrenker “appears to have intentionally abandoned the plane after putting it on auto pilot over the Birmingham, Alabama area and parachuting to the ground.”
On Monday morning a police officer in Childersburg, Alabama, about 225 miles from where the plane crash, was approached by a man who was wet from the knees down carrying what looked like flight goggles. The officer was unaware of the nearby plane crash. The man stated that he had been in a canoe accident and the officer took him to a hotel.
The man used Schreckner’s driver’s license, but used a fake name to check into the hotel. The man disappeared before authorities could question him. He paid in cash and ran into the woods next to the hotel. Sheriff’s Sgt. Scott Haines has said, “we believe he was trying to flee some type of prosecution.”