He wouldn't describe what else was found at the Chattahoochee campground, but did say the investigation revealed Schrenker was prepared to be on the run for some time.
Schrenker fled not only the law but divorce, a state investigation of his businesses and angry investors who accuse him of stealing potentially millions in savings they entrusted to him.
"We've learned over time that he's a pathological liar—you don't believe a single word that comes out of his mouth," said Charles Kinney, a 49-year-old airline pilot from Atlanta who alleges Schrenker pocketed at least $135,000 of his parents' retirement fund.
Video: Judge orders arrest of Indiana pilot believed to have faked his death.
On Sunday—two days after burying his stepfather and suffering a half-million-dollar loss in federal court the same day—Schrenker was flying his single-engine Piper Malibu to Florida from his Indiana home when he reported the windshield had imploded. Then his radio went silent.
Military jets tried to intercept the plane and found the door open, the cockpit dark. The aircraft crashed soon after in a Florida Panhandle bayou surrounded by homes. Police believe Schrenker made his way 220 miles north to Childersburg, Ala., where he'd stashed a motorcycle with full saddlebags in a storage unit rented just the day before his flight.
It appeared, by all accounts, that Schrenker was doing quite well. At 38, he controlled an impressive slate of businesses. Through his Heritage Wealth Management, Heritage Insurance Services and Icon Wealth Management, he was responsible for providing financial advice and managing portfolios worth millions.
He collected luxury automobiles, owned two airplanes and lived in a 10,000-square-foot house in an upscale neighborhood known as "Cocktail Cove," where affluent boaters often socialize with cocktails in hand. But officials now say Schrenker's enterprise was ready to topple.
Authorities in Indiana have been investigating Schrenker's businesses on allegations that he sold clients annuities and charged them exorbitant fees they weren't aware they would face.
State Insurance Commissioner Jim Atterholt said Schrenker would close the investors out of one annuity and move them to another while charging them especially high "surrender charges"—in one case costing a retired couple $135,000 or their original $900,000 investment.
In recent weeks, Schrenker's life began to spin out of control. According to documents in a lawsuit filed in Indianapolis, Schrenker sent a frantic e-mail to plaintiffs on Dec. 16.
"I walked out on my job about 30 minutes ago," it read. "My career is over ... over one letter in a trade error. One letter!! ... I've had so many people yelling at me today that I couldn't figure out what was up or down. I still can't figure it out." It's unclear to what "error" he is referring.
In another e-mail to a neighbor following his disappearance, Schrenker referred to having "just made a 2 million dollar mistake." But it appeared he was hoping to work things out. But things were now out of his hands.
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On Dec. 31, officers searched Schrenker's home, seizing his family's passports, $6,036 in cash, the title to a Lexus and deposit slips for bank accounts in Michelle Schrenker's name. They also took six computers and nine large plastic tubs filled with various financial and corporate documents.
In the supporting affidavit, investigators suggested Schrenker might have access to at least $665,000 in the offshore accounts of a client. But it wasn't just his finances that were in turmoil. Just a day before, Michelle Schrenker had filed for divorce.
She told the people searching the house that her husband had been having an affair. Hours after Schrenker vanished, neighbor Tom Britt received what he believes is an e-mail from Schrenker. The tone was ominous.
"I embarrassed my family for the last time," Britt quoted Schrenker as saying. "By the time you read this I'll be gone."