Marcus Schrenker (born November 22, 1970) is a financial manager known for attempting to fake his own death and the multi-state three day manhunt that followed. Schrenker worked in Fishers, Indiana, and lived in McCordsville, Indiana.
In January 2008, The Indiana Department of Insurance filed a complaint against Schrenker on behalf of seven investors who claim he neglected to inform them that they would face high fees if they switched annuities, which subsequently cost them roughly $250,000. On December 31, 2008, Schrenker’s Indiana state financial adviser’s license expired and authorities from Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita’s Securities Division raided his home in search of evidence of securities violations.[5][10] On January 6, 2009, Schrenker was charged in Hamilton County, Indiana with unlawful acts by a compensated adviser and unlawful transaction by an investment adviser, and his bail was set at $4 million.[5] On January 9, he lost $533,500 in a federal court ruling in Maryland against one of his companies.

In addition to Schrenker’s mounting business problems, Schrenker’s wife of 13 years, Michelle, filed for divorce on December 30, 2008. The following day, she told the authorities searching their home that her husband had been having an affair. A press release from her lawyers claims that she had no idea about Schrenker’s financial dealings, and their split was solely a result of his infidelities.

In all, at least eight lawsuits were filed against Schrenker in the ten years leading up to his arrest, including slander, interfering with a business relationship, and failing to pay a contractor who worked on one of his homes. There is speculation that Schrenker’s accumulated personal and business problems may have caused his attempt to fake his own death.At about 10pm on January 13, officials captured Schrenker in a pup tent at the Quincy campground.

On January 11, 2009, Schrenker departed in his single-engine Piper Meridian from an airfield in Anderson, Indiana, scheduled to fly to Destin, Florida. Near Birmingham, Alabama, he made a distress call, telling air traffic controllers that his windshield had imploded and he was “bleeding profusely.” He then set the plane to autopilot and parachuted out. The plane flew on, crossing Alabama before ultimately crashing in Santa Rosa County, Florida. Military jets that had been dispatched to intercept Schrenker’s plane discovered it in flight, with its door open and cockpit empty. They followed the plane until it crashed just north of Milton, Florida at about 9:20pm. The plane had flown 200 miles (320 km) on autopilot and crashed 50 to 75 yards from a residential area. Upon inspecting the crash site, police discovered a United States atlas and a national campground directory, both of which had the Florida and Alabama sections torn out.

Because Schrenker’s crimes spanned a number of states, including one coastal state, and because the incident involved an aircraft, he may be prosecuted by the United States Coast Guard, the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as Indiana, Alabama, and Florida law enforcement.

He is scheduled to go before a Florida federal judge in Pensacola on January 22, 2009, where he faces two charges: “knowingly and willfully” causing the U.S. Coast Guard to attempt to save his life and property “when no help was needed,” and illegal destruction of an aircraft. At the hearing on January 29, Schrenker’s lawyer, Thomas Keith, claimed his client is mentally incompetent and requested to the judge that he undergo a mental evaluation. Schrenker has been sentenced to four years by Roger Vinson.

On February 5, 2009, an Alabama circuit court judge granted a $12 million judgment against Schrenker for the 2002 sale of a defective airplane to a man in Dothan, Alabama.

Indiana prosecutors hope to begin his trial in their state as early as April.

On March 6, 2009, a letter Marcus Schrenker wrote to the Indiana Attorney General and Indiana Secretary of State was published by the news media. In the letter, Schrenker attempted to proclaim his innocence and unfreeze assets stated to belong to his wife.

On June 5, 2009 Marcus Schrenker pled guilty to trying to fake his own death in a plane crash last January. 38 year-old entered his plea in a Florida courtroom and admitted to intentionally crashing his small plane to try to end years of financial and legal problems. He had been ordered to pay investors hundreds of thousands of dollars and faced millions in judgements and other penalties related to an insurance company lawsuit. Schrenker faces up to 26-years in prison, $500,000 in fines, and at least $38,000 in reimbursement to the Coast Guard when he’s sentenced at a later date.

On August 19th, 2009, Marcus Schrenker was sentenced to four years for charges related to the crash.