Police Pilot faked emergency

By Josh Levs
CNN
(CNN) - The pilot of a small plane faked a life-or-death emergency before secretly parachuting out and letting his plane crash into a swampy area in the Florida panhandle, investigators said Monday.

The pilot, identified as Marcus Schrenker, 38, later checked into a hotel in Alabama under a fake name, but then put on a black cap and fled into woods, authorities in Alabama said, according to the Santa Rosa County (Florida) Sheriff's Office. Authorities are searching for him.

The manager of the airport in Indiana from which the six-seat aircraft took off told CNN no one else was on board at takeoff.

CNN's attempts to reach a representative for Schrenker were unsuccessful. The phone number for his financial management business was disconnected, and public records do not list his current home phone number.