Plane crashes in East Milton (Update 8 with video)

Update 8 at 5:05 a.m.

The Press Gazette with the help of the Herald Bulletin in Anderson, Ind., has been able to confirm that Marcus Schrenker's wife Michelle had filed for divorce on Dec. 30 of last year and a hearing was scheduled for Feb. 5.

Further updates will be posted as they become available.

Update 7 at 11:34 p.m.

The road could become much rougher for Marcus J. Schrenker.

Published reports quote Jim Gavin, spokesman for the Indiana Secretary of State, that an Indiana judge on Monday froze Schrenker's assets at the request of investigators looking into his business dealings.

Public documents list Schrenker as president of an Indianapolis agency called Heritage Wealth Management. Records also show Heritage Insurance Services at the same address. The address is listed in the telephone directory as the site of Icon Wealth Management.

Those three companies are under investigation for possible securities violations, according to Gavin. A search warrant was served in connection with that investigation December 31.

The judge's asset-freezing order, which applies to Schrenker's wife and his three companies, is aimed at protecting investors, Gavin said.

Reports indicate Schrenker's wife, Michelle, filed for divorce on or around Dec. 30.

The U.S. Marshal's Service Northern Alabama District office has taken over the case according to the Childersburg Police Department and they are referring all calls to the marshal's service.

Reports from Harpersville, is that a man fitting Schrenker's description rode out of town on a red motorcycle that had been placed in a storage unit just days earlier.

Attempts to contact the Harpersville Police Department to confirm this information has been unsuccessful.

Update 6 at 10:19 p.m.

It appears there could be a reason surfacing to the staged disappearance of 38 year old Marcus J. Schrenker Sunday night.

A company owned by Schrenker, who intentionally abandoned his plane Sunday over Alabama and crashed a mile north of the Peter Prince Airport in East Milton, was recently ordered by a federal court in Maryland to pay a $533,564 to OM Financial Life Insurance Company.

The default judgment against Marcus Schrenker's Heritage Wealth Management Inc. was issued on Friday. According to the Indiana Secretary of State's office, Schrenker is president of the company, which is based in Indianapolis.

In May of 2007, Baltimore-based OM Financial Life Insurance Company filed suit against Schrenker and his Heritage Wealth Management company claiming "unjust enrichment." The company claimed the defendants repeatedly failed to pay back "unearned" commissions they received relating to OM Financial products. The defendants sold insurance and/or annuity plans for OM Financial.

"Defendants have refused to return, and did not return, the $433,314 in commissions paid to them by OM Financial arising out of products that were surrendered, lapsed, reversed and/or free-looked within the chargeback period," an amended claim reads.

The judge also ordered the company to pay $33,852 in interest and attorneys' fees of $66,397.

Also according to a filing made in Federal Court on December 22, 2008, Marcus Schrenker, the head of Heritage Wealth Management, Inc. was the defendant in a suit made by Creative Marketing International for breach of contract. Schrenker was also named in papers related to Delta Airline's bankruptcy filing. Schrenker had done work analyzing post-retirement income possibilities for retiring Delta pilots. The filing stated that "review of the analysis described in the Schrenker Declaration shows that it contains multiple seriously flawed assumptions that decimate its validity."

Another link, via DealBreaker.com: Schrenker and his wife Michelle once filed a suit against the Hamilton County, Indiana Sheriff's Office for false arrest and unreasonable force. Schrenker had been accused of riding a motorcycle illegally, and things went downhill from there.

Update 5 at 12:10 p.m.

Alabama authorities are currently looking for Marc Schrenker, who is now on the run.

The current investigation has revealed that the pilot, identified as Marcus Schrenker, 38 years old, from Indiana, appears to have intentionally abandoned the plane after putting it on auto pilot over the Birmingham, Alabama area and parachuting to the ground. Officials initially were told that the pilot had an in flight emergency and that the windshield imploded on the plane. The pilot stated that he was bleeding profusely. Radio contact with the plane was not able to be established after that point.

Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office officials received a call on 1/12/09 at 2:26 am from the Childersburg Police Department, in Alabama. Their officers told the Sheriff’s Office that a white male subject came up to one of their officers at a store in Childersburg and said that he had been in a canoeing accident with some friends.

The subject was only wet from the knees down and had no other injuries. The subject was identified by the officer as Schrenker by means of an Indiana Drivers License. Schrenker also had some goggles that looked like they were made for "flying".

The officers in that jurisdiction were unaware of the plane crash incident at that time and took the subject to a nearby hotel in Harpersville, Alabama. Later after hearing about the airplane crash incident, Childersburg Police Department contacted our agency. Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office deputies confirmed that the subject that was transported to the hotel had the same name as that of the pilot that was involved in the airplane crash in our county.

Childersburg Police Department was advised of this and they went back to the hotel where Schrenker was dropped off. Schrenker checked into the hotel under a fictitious name. When authorities entered Schrenker’s room he was not there. After Schrenker paid for his room with cash, he put on a black toboggan cap and ran into the woods located next to the hotel.

Authorities in that jurisdiction are continuing to look for Schrenker. Numerous local, state, and federal agencies are currently assisting in Alabama, Indiana, and Florida in an effort to locate Schrenker.

The FAA and the NTSB has just arrived to the crash site to begin their investigation into the crash.

Schrenker is listed on You Tube featuring skydiving videos according to a report by the Herald Bulletin in Anderson, Ind.

On the site he identifies himself as 38 and an "Unlimited Aerobatic Pilot with 10,000 plus hours of experience."

Schrenker is listed as the president and CEO of Heritage Wealth Management

Update 4 at 10:11 a.m.

The Santa Rosa Press Gazette has received reports that Marc Schrenker has been found alive in Shelby County, Ala.

We are working on getting comformation of this report and will update you further as we attempt to reach the Childersburg Police Department in Childersburg, Ala., for further information on the locating of Schrenker.

Update 3 at 8:53 a.m.

The Santa Rosa Press Gazette has learned the identity of the pilot who is missing.

According to sources the pilot was Marc Schrenker.

Schrenker is reported to be a businessman who lived north of Indianapolis in a suburb of Fischers, Ind.

Schrenker apparently has logged several flights out of the Anderson Airport according to reports and has posted some of his video's on his You Tube site.

Update 2 at 2:34 a.m.

A Piper PA-46 Turbo Prop plane crashed around 9:15 p.m. Sunday night in East Milton near the area of Lakeside Drive and Lakeside Court, which is just west of the Peter Prince Airport.

As of this time the pilots name is unknown and he is currently missing according to Santa Rosa County Sheriff Public Information Officer Scott Haines as the search of the crash site had to be called off because of the high tide and where the crash was located.

The plane, which took from from Anderson (Indiana) Municipality Airport, was headed to Destin.

When the plane was around 35 miles southwest of Birmingham, the pilot contacted the FAA Atlanta Center declaring an in-flight emergency. The pilot reported the windshild of the aircraft had imploded and he was bleeding severely.

Officials in Atlanta attempted to divert the pilot to an airport in Pell City, Ala., but the pilot was not responding.

The plane appeared to be placed on autopilot at around 2,000 feet as it passed the Pell City Airport.

Military jets were dispatched in an effort to intercept the plane. The military units spotted the Piper Turbo Prop approximately 12 miles north of NAS Whiting Field.

Pilots deployed flares in an attempt to illuminate the plane as it was flying and noticed that the door to the aircraft was open and the cockpit was dark.

They maintained visual contact with the plane until it crashed along the Magnolia Basin, which is north of the Lakeside Drive and Lakeside Court area. This is approximately six miles south of Whiting Field.

Residents in the area noticed the military jets flying over as they were spotting the plane and assisting emergency personel find the crash scene, which had to be done via GPS coordinates.

"My wife ran to the bedroom to grab our son when the plane went overhead," said Michael Stone, an East Milton resident on South Airport Rd. "It sounded like the plane was going to crash into our living room.

"Since that there are several officers and planes with spot lights on flying overhead."

Residents in the area are use to hearing planes due to the proximity to the Peter Prince Airport, but nothing like this.

"We were home watching a movie when we heard this jet fly over the house and we felt like it was going to crash into the home," said Mike Morris. "We didn't know what was going on as we kept hearing the jets and the helicopters.

"Normally we hear bombing practice from Eglin and planes taking off from the airport, but to hear jets like that that low is something totally different."

According to Haines it was very difficult to get to the crash site Sunday night.

"We had to use boats to get there and then had to walk in a swampy wooded area neat the area of the Blackwater River off of Lakeshore Drive,' said Haines. "We searched the area in an effort to locate the pilot utilizing helicopters, planes, boats, and dogs, but we could not locate him."

Officials with the FAA and the NTSB are expected to be arriving later today to assist in the investigation.

Despite the search being concluded for the evening, sheriff's office personnel remained at the scene in boats and on land to maintain security of the crash scene.

Responding agencies according to Haines were East Milton Fire, City of Milton Fire, Skyline Fire, Bagdad Fire, Santa Rosa Sheriff Office, Coast Guard, FWC, Lifeguard Ambulance Service, and Florida Highway Patrol.

Further information will be released as it becomes available according to Haines.

Update 1 at 12:08 a.m. at Kiley's on Highway 90

A single engine, 6 seater Piper PA46 was reported down this evening at approximately 9:15 p.m. It is a non-military air craft.

The plane has been located, approximately 100 yards behind a residence on Lakeside Drive in

East Milton, in a wooded, swampy area. The pilot has not been located.

They pilot contacting Birmingham Airspace reporting his windshield imploded and he had severe bleeding. Communication with the pilot was then lost and military aircraft was sent up to search for the aircraft and witnessed the craft going down one mile north of Peter Prince Airport.

FAA will arive in the morning to investigate.

Responding units included East Milton Fire, City of Milton Fire, Skyline Fire, Baghdad Fire, Santa Rosa Sheriff Office, Coast Guard, FWC, Lifeguard Ambulance Service, and the Florida Highway Patrol.

Original report

The Santa Rosa Press Gazette has received reports of a plane being down near Lakeside Road in East Milton.

It is unknown at this time what kind of plane it is, but there are reports of planes flying to locate the site where the wreck occurred.

According to reports the plane flew very low over houses near South Airport Road around 9:15 p.m.

"My wife ran to the bedroom to grab our son when the plane went overhead," said Michael Stone, an East Milton resident on South Airport Rd. "It sounded like the plane was going to crash into our living room.

"Since that there are several officers and planes with spot lights on flying overhead."

A call to Santa Rosa County Public Information Officer Joy Tsubooka confirmed a plane down on Lakeside Road in East Milton, but no further information was available at this time.

Further information will be posted as it becomes available.