Published:Wednesday, January 14, 2009 11:19 AM PST
Serving the South Coast of Oregon

Missing pilot found, attempts suicide
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 11:19 AM PST

QUINCY, Fla. (AP) — A missing pilot’s three-day run from authorities — and personal and financial ruin — ended when authorities found him inside an isolated campground tent, bleeding from his wrist after an apparent suicide attempt.

U.S. Marshals apprehended Marcus Schrenker, 38, late Tuesday night at a North Florida campground days after the businessman and amateur daredevil pilot apparently tried to fake his own death in a plane crash. Authorities believe he parachuted to the ground and later sped off on a motorcycle he had stashed in a central Alabama storage shed.

Frank Chiumento, an assistant chief with the U.S. Marshals in Florida, said officers had to tend to Schrenker’s self-inflicted gash to the wrist before he was airlifted to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. Schrenker was listed in fair condition early this morning.

The self-inflicted gash was “very serious at the time,” Chiumento said. “He was bleeding profusely from the wounds to the left arm.”

Schrenker could face charges in Florida.


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