In the e-mail, Britt is asked to set the record straight and Schrenker says he's stunned after reading coverage of the case on the Internet. According to the e-mail, the accident was caused when the window on the pilot side imploded, spraying him with glass and reducing cabin pressure.
"Hypoxia can cause people to make terrible decisions and I simply put on my parachute and survival gear and bailed out," the e-mail reads.
U.S. Marshals spokesman Michael Richards in Birmingham declined to detail where agents are looking or how the search is being conducted. But investigators in Florida said Schrenker faces a host of possible charges if he deliberately abandoned the plane.
For Investors:
"You just can't let an unmanned aircraft just maliciously fly into a residential area without facing any consequences," Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office spokesman Scott Haines said on the CBS "Early Show."
Schrenker lived a high-flying life as an investment manager and an experienced recreational pilot with the nerves to pull off aerial stunts. In a video posted on YouTube, he is shown boldly completing a daredevil maneuver in the Bahamas, flying underneath a bridge.
He bought luxury automobiles, two airplanes and built a 10,000-square-foot house in an upscale neighborhood full of million-dollar homes known as "Cocktail Cove," where affluent boaters often socialize with cocktails in hand.
But Schrenker's life appeared to be spiraling downward: He lost a half-million-dollar judgment against one of his companies, and his wife filed for divorce. Investigators probed his businesses for possible securities violations.
Authorities in Indiana have said little about the investigation into Schrenker's businesses—Heritage Wealth Management, Heritage Insurance Services and Icon Wealth Management—wealth management companies that provide financial advice.
Jim Gavin, a spokesman for Indiana's secretary of state, said investigators are looking at possible securities violations, and officers who searched his home Dec. 31 were looking for computers, notes, photos and other documents related to those companies, he said.
On Friday, two days before the crash, a federal judge in Maryland issued a $533,500 judgment against Heritage Wealth Management, and in favor of OM Financial Life Insurance. The OM lawsuit contended Heritage Wealth Management should return more than $230,000 in commissions because of problems with insurance or annuity plans it sold.