INDIANAPOLIS -- A friend and neighbor of Marc Schrenker, an Indianapolis-area businessman who parachuted from a plane before it crashed Sunday, said Tuesday that he thinks Schrenker e-mailed him so he could tell the man's side of the story.

Facing mounting problems at home, Schrenker, a financial planner and accomplished aerobatic pilot, left Anderson, Ind., bound for Destin, Fla., but reported trouble on the plane while over Alabama and parachuted to safety about 200 miles before the single-engine plane crashed.

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Slideshow: Police Look For Missing Businessman After Plane Crash

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Federal agents arrested Schrenker outside Tallahassee, Fla., Tuesday night.

In an interview with 6News' Julie Pursley Tuesday morning, Schrenker's friend Tom Britt detailed the businessman's family life and business struggles, along with an e-mail he received from Schrenker Monday evening as authorities searched for him.

Britt described Schrenker as an active father of three who likely felt that the world was closing in on him. Schrenker had been an active Geist community advocate, said Britt, who runs the community news Web site AtGeist.com.

"He's very personable. We have become what I would consider good friends," Britt said.

Schrenker's father-in-law died recently and his wife, Michelle, had filed for divorce days before Sunday's flight.

While Britt considered Schrenker a good family man, others in the upscale Geist community weren't as fond of him.

"There was always this other group of people, the people that you heard stories from that didn't like Mark," Britt said. "It was almost like there were two different Marks living at Geist."

Britt said Schrenker seemed increasingly uncomfortable recently.

"He always seemed a little stressed. I'd go to his office and he just seemed nervous," Britt said. "I thought that was not a great trait to have if you're a financial planner."

After he heard Monday that Schrenker's plane had crashed, Britt said he knew something wasn't right.

"When I heard there was a plane crash, my first reaction was this had to be staged," Britt said. "Initial reaction was I bet he wasn't in it. That turned out to be correct. My second reaction was he's trying to escape the pressure that was compounding on him."

Britt described the e-mail he received at 7:18 p.m. Monday as long and personal.

"He had been reading CNN and AtGeist.com and was disturbed," Britt said. "He wanted to set the record straight."

Britt said Schrenker claimed in the e-mail that he had done nothing wrong in the securities allegations against him and detailed the moments before he bailed from the plane.

"He said he panicked. He blacked out. He was disoriented when he landed. He was trying to explain to me his side of the story," Britt said.

Schrenker may have seen Britt as a conduit to the media -- a way for him to get his story out without surrendering.

"I'm the closest thing he's got to a media outlet, because of the AtGeist.com Web site," Britt said. "I want him to tell his story. I don't want to be the messenger through an e-mail."

Britt urged restraint in ongoing media coverage of the search for Schrenker.

"This trial in the media is never a good thing, especially when the kids are worrying about this," he said. "I feel for him. I feel for his family. He's got a postcard family."

Britt called for Schrenker to turn himself in and expressed hope that he hadn't hurt himself.

"I wouldn't consider him dangerous. I can't imagine he'd hurt anybody," Britt said. "I think he feels … that he's hurt his family. That's the overriding theme I got from the e-mail."