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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| US businessman 'fakes own death' | US businessman 'fakes own death' |
| (39 minutes later) | |
| A US businessman facing financial problems has apparently faked his own death by bailing out of his plane and letting it crash in a Florida swamp. | A US businessman facing financial problems has apparently faked his own death by bailing out of his plane and letting it crash in a Florida swamp. |
| A rescue operation was launched when Marcus Schrenker made a distress call saying his plane's windscreen had imploded and he was bleeding. | A rescue operation was launched when Marcus Schrenker made a distress call saying his plane's windscreen had imploded and he was bleeding. |
| Mr Schrenker, 38, is still missing, but thought to be alive and well. | Mr Schrenker, 38, is still missing, but thought to be alive and well. |
| His financial management companies are reportedly under investigation and he owes $500,000 to an insurance company. | His financial management companies are reportedly under investigation and he owes $500,000 to an insurance company. |
| Police think the financial adviser may have parachuted from the plane before it crashed. | Police think the financial adviser may have parachuted from the plane before it crashed. |
| Running for the woods | Running for the woods |
| Mr Schrenker was the only person aboard the single engine Piper plane that took off for Florida on Sunday from Anderson, Indiana. | Mr Schrenker was the only person aboard the single engine Piper plane that took off for Florida on Sunday from Anderson, Indiana. |
| When the authorities received a distress call from the pilot as he flew over Alabama, a rescue operation was launched. | When the authorities received a distress call from the pilot as he flew over Alabama, a rescue operation was launched. |
| Two military planes were scrambled and they found Mr Schrenker's plane flying on autopilot, with its door open and no sign of the pilot. | Two military planes were scrambled and they found Mr Schrenker's plane flying on autopilot, with its door open and no sign of the pilot. |
| The plane then crashed in a swampy area near Milton, Florida, close to several homes. | The plane then crashed in a swampy area near Milton, Florida, close to several homes. |
| But investigators said the wreckage showed no signs of blood or a smashed windshield. | But investigators said the wreckage showed no signs of blood or a smashed windshield. |
| The sheriff's office in Santa Rosa County - where the plane crashed - said the pilot appeared to have intentionally abandoned his plane. | The sheriff's office in Santa Rosa County - where the plane crashed - said the pilot appeared to have intentionally abandoned his plane. |
| Marcus Schrenker's businesses have been under investigation | |
| A man with Mr Schrenker's identification apparently checked into a hotel in Alabama after the crash, telling police he had been in a canoeing accident, before being seen running away into nearby woods. | |
| It emerged on Tuesday that the Indiana Department of Insurance filed a complaint against Mr Schrenker last January on behalf of seven investors who claimed he cost them more than $250,000 (£172,000) because he never told them they would face high fees to switch annuities. | |
| A hearing in the case was scheduled for next week. | |
| On Tuesday, prosecutors alleged that Mr Schrenker had been advising clients even though his license had expired on 31 December. A judge ordered him arrested on financial fraud charges. | |
| Authorities in Indiana have been probing Mr Schrenker's financial management businesses - Heritage Wealth Management Inc, Heritage Insurance Services Inc and Icon Wealth Management - for possible securities violations, said Jim Gavin, spokesman for Indiana's secretary of state. | |
| Judgement issued | |
| Officers searched Mr Schrenker's home on 31 December looking for computers, notes, photographs and other documents related to those companies, said Mr Gavin. | |
| On Friday, two days before the crash, a federal judge in Maryland issued a $533,500 (£367,000) judgment against Heritage Wealth Management Inc, in favour of a life insurance company. | |
| The lawsuit said there had been problems with insurance or annuity plans sold by Heritage Wealth Management. | |
| The case took another turn on Tuesday when investigators said it looked like Mr Schrenker had stashed a red motorcycle in an Alabama storage unit before the crash, then retrieved it and fled. | |
| "He could be anywhere at all," said Harpersville Police Chief David Latimer. | |
| "Within 10 hours he could be in New Orleans, halfway to Houston, in Atlanta, anywhere. I believe he's out of the US. | |
| "He jumped out an airplane and left it to crash who knows where. He has shown a total disregard for human life. I think he would do anything to get away." | |
| Investigators believe Mr Schrenker's plan was to let the plane crash into the Gulf of Mexico, Mr Latimer said, but the plane ran out of fuel first. |