The Silent Trail: The Unsolved Disappearance of Heidi Planck

Discover the spine-chilling reality at the center of our exploration into Heidi Planck's unsolved disappearance. Today, we piece together the eerie puzzle of her last known movements, the disabling of her devices' GPS, and the FBI's raid on her home. We'll also consider the sinister implications of her employer's financial scandal and whether a heated argument with her boyfriend holds any clues to her fate. As you listen, you'll find yourself in a web of intrigue and unanswered questions, pondering the chilling possibility that Heidi's professional life may have played a role in her mysterious vanishing.

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Chapters

• 1:45 Mysterious Disappearance of Heidi Plank
• 15:29 Podcast Website & Subscription Information

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:46

Greyhawks. Welcome to Dark Crossroads podcast, hosted by Roxanne Fletcher. This is your stop for all things true crime and paranormal. From the infamous story of the New Bedford Highway Killer to the chilling tale of the Black Eyed Children, dark Crossroads podcast is a truly deep dive into the stories that frighten and fascinate you. All links to the show will be provided in this episode's description, and don't forget to let us know what you think of today's episode.

Speaker 1: 2:35

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Speaker 1: 3:31

Heidi Plank was a loving and devoted mother. By all accounts, her 10 year old son was everything to her, so it was extremely alarming when Heidi failed to pick him up at school on October 20th of 2021. Both Jim Wayne, heidi's ex-husband, and their son had tried to reach out to Heidi numerous times between Sunday October 17th and Wednesday October 20th. However, she did not return any of their text messages or phone calls. While unusual, jim explains that he was more annoyed than worried. He knew that Heidi would not miss picking up their son, and so the pair waited patiently for her to arrive for afternoon pick up and to provide an explanation as to why she had been out of touch. When she did not show, they knew something was terribly wrong. Her ex-husband stated she's a devoted mother who would never, ever leave her son. We have a 10 year old boy at home that's looking for his mom and we just need to find her. So the question remains what happened to Heidi?

Speaker 1: 4:34

The day that Heidi disappeared was a Sunday afternoon and it seemed to start out normal for Heidi. She attended her son's football game in Downey, which is located in Los Angeles County. Heidi left at half time, but not before. Her ex-husband seemed to notice that something was a bit off with her. He stated she was a little bit antsy. I don't know why. All I know is that was the last time I saw her or talked to her.

Speaker 1: 5:00

That evening, around 6.30pm, a surveillance video picks up Heidi walking her beloved dog Seven in downtown Los Angeles, near the corner of Hope and Flower Seven, was found about 30 minutes later roaming inside a nearby high-end apartment complex. Over the course of the next couple of days, friends and family reach out to Heidi, but none of them receive a response. It wasn't until October 20th, when she failed to pick up her son from school, that they really started to sense that something was terribly wrong. At this point, jim filed a missing persons report with the LAPD that day In an effort to find her. Law enforcement attempted to access the GPS in her car and the location services for her Apple laptop, her phone and her watch. Curiously, they had all been disabled.

Speaker 1: 5:48

On October 29th, the FBI raided Heidi's home, carrying away various files. They had been bracing to find a crime scene there. They came after it emerged Heidi's boss was under federal securities investigation for possible fraud charges. Through all of this it also came out and was revealed to everybody that Heidi had been dating a high-flying vice president.

Speaker 1: 6:11

At Facebook, her ex husband stated that she and her new boyfriend had an argument before she went missing and he had assumed that she was ghosting him. When he didn't hear from her, he goes on to state that he didn't have any worries about the guy. He was a great guy. I'm no detective for sure, but he seems like a really good person. They had been in an argument the week before so he didn't know anything about her disappearance. He thought that she was just ghosting him. He had no idea. Jim states that the couple's quarrel or argument was over whether her new boyfriend was feeling obligated to remain up north instead of traveling down to Los Angeles to be with Heidi. He said that they got into an argument because he lives in San Francisco and she wanted him to come down but he couldn't because of work. As I said, I'm not a detective, but I can pretty much assure you that that's not it.

Speaker 1: 6:59

There is no evidence to suggest that Heidi's partner was involved in her disappearance and police have not named him as a suspect or a person of interest in her disappearance. It wasn't until Jim tried to track seven through his chip that they get their first lead. On the night of October 17th, a resident of Hope and Flower found seven wandering around one of the upper level floors. They had alerted the chip company that seven had been found. From their, law enforcement were able to obtain footage from Hope and Flower that shows Heidi entering the building, but there is no footage of her leading. They believe that Heidi attended a party at this place.

Speaker 1: 7:36

Heidi's home was searched after the LAPD performed a wellness check at her home. They found it to be in pristine condition, though they did note that her phone and laptops were left behind. Based on forensic evidence that they recovered at Hope and Flower, the LAPD launched a weeks-long effort to search the Jaquita Canyon landfill. The working theory is that something happened to Heidi at the party and that she was placed in a trash chute that emptied into a dumpster. Their efforts did not yield any trace of Heidi, though there has also been some speculation that her disappearance was connected to her employer at the time, camden Capital Partners, jason Sugerman, a managing partner who has been accused of defrauding a Native American tribe's pension funds out of $43 million.

Speaker 1: 8:29

Jason has been charged with serious crimes by the Securities and Exchange Commission. It was believed that she may have been targeted by her boss because she was a company's controller. She held documents and information on a laptop that she had in her home office. After her disappearance, her laptop was removed from her home office. The laptop reportedly held important documents that could help the Securities and Exchange Commission's case against her boss. According to the SEC, information on her laptop may have been useful in the investigation against her boss. Her ex-husband turned it over to investigators after seeing how distraught he was about the laptop after his ex-wife went missing. He stated all Jason cared about was that laptop when Heidi went missing. Let's just say I'm keeping my eyes and ears open. Her ex-husband, who is now raising their son alone and has also taken in seven, says he just wants answers for his family, especially for his son. Various theories about her disappearance have surfaced online. Some friends have created a website in the hope of finding answers, but they have yet to learn anything more about her disappearance. To this day, heidi has yet to be found and there remains few answers about her mysterious disappearance.

Speaker 1: 9:48

When police searched the Hope and Flower Highrise Apartments, residents did report that Plank had attended a drug-fueled party at the location and could have possibly overdosed, leading someone to dump her body into the building's trash-shoot. An anonymous witness came forward who had been living at the Hope and Flower building on the night that Heidi went missing. They stated that Heidi had been to a party there to get Adderall from a man that she was dating, according to this person. The witness said that the revelers at the party panicked when Heidi collapsed on the dance floor and got rid of her body by pushing it down the garbage disposal. Police officials have confirmed that investigations and forensic evidence has led them to believe that she did die in the Highrise Apartments. Officials stated that they searched through more than 1,000 tons of waste and debris in November but did not find any human remains that could have been hers.

Speaker 1: 10:43

Her ex-husband stated he thinks it was more than just an accidental overdose. He believes that Heidi's boss was involved in her disappearance and her possible death. Along with this, a US son has previously reported on how her boss, sugarman, had ties to Hunter Biden and the Gambino crime. Family Emails on Hunter Biden's laptop from hell later revealed that Sugarman had himself been closely involved in a business deal with the president's son. In a strange twist of fate, the very same day that Heidi was pronounced dead in court, sugarman's father-in-law, peter, was seen at the White House with President Biden during a visit with his Golden State Warriors basketball team. The US son also previously revealed a picture showing Sugarman at a Hollywood party in 2002 with a person who has ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Speaker 1: 11:35

Some more information that has surfaced is that Heidi is said to have texted her new boyfriend to say that she was scared and wish that he was with her in the days before her shocking disappearance. Her cousin, trey Hawkins, said If the facts are true about her message to her boyfriend about being scared, then something terrible has happened to her. Trey goes on to state that Heidi would not have run away because of her son's upcoming birthday and would not have just taken off leaving him behind. That is not in her character at all and we all feel something has happened. We are definitely worried about her. Clearly something is going on. I know that she spoke to her mom a few days before she disappeared about her intention to come home for Thanksgiving. She also talked to my other aunt and told her that she was coming home and wanting to see everybody. Nothing was out of the ordinary in those chats. There was no indication anything was wrong. The fact that my cousin was planning to come home for Thanksgiving plans that she was making days before she disappeared and that her son's birthday was just days away, leaves me to believe that she did not run. Trey goes on to state that his cousin is a loving and generous person.

Speaker 1: 12:43

Her ex-husband, jim, put in a petition for Heidi to be pronounced as deceased so their son can receive funds from her life insurance policy. The judge said while making his ruling at the Superior Court in Los Angeles on January 17th the court will note that the petitioner, jim Wayne, has sufficiently satisfied the burden of proof in arguing for death. No reasonable inferences from the evidence can lead one to determine that she remains alive. Then the judge goes on to officially record that Heidi has died in Los Angeles at 9 pm on October 17th of 2021. He said he had been convinced by compelling arguments made by her ex-husband's counsel and testimony given behind closed doors by the investigating officer in the case.

Speaker 1: 13:30

After the ruling, jim was seen smiling, shaking his attorney's hand. He was asked what he believes happened to Heidi and he states everything is still pure speculation. Right now. I have my own ideas on what happened, but for now I am just happy we got to a place of real closure. Don't forget that I've got a young son at home. I have full confidence that the investigators are going to figure out what happened. It is still an active criminal investigation and they have not stopped making inquiries. I believe they will figure this out, despite investigating for well over one year. Cops have announced no arrests or suspects in the case. Her friend, natalie John, stated every minute, every second that passes, you wonder if there is still hope, and I hope there is hope, but for me, I'm afraid that hope it's just going away bit by bit.

Speaker 1: 14:19

Heidi is described as being 5'3 and weighing around 120 lbs. She has blonde hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing jeans and a grey sweater and also driving a 2017 grey Range Rover with California license plate U840X0. If you have any information about the disappearance of Heidi Plank, you are asked to contact the Los Angeles Police Department Missing Persons Unit at 213-996-1800, or contact 1877 LAPD 247, which is also 1877 527-32. 4-7. Okay, so before I leave you, guys, I just want to let you know my sources for finding the information for this episode. The first one is the Heidi Plank Facebook page. I got a lot of information from the missing person's center website and also the sun date line and oxygen. All right, guys. So thank you so much for hanging out again today.

Speaker 1: 15:29

For more details on the podcast or the cases that we covered, then head on over to the website wwwdarkcrossroadspodcastcom, where we have all of the episodes, information about the podcast, merch, and also a blog covering every single case and it going into more description, including links to all the places that you need to make phone calls to or resources regarding the case. You can also find us on most social media platforms. Don't forget to like, share rate, review, subscribe. Wherever you're listening to us. You can subscribe to the podcast. There is a link in all episodes in the notes that will send you to our subscription page and with that you will get bonus content, discount on future merch and a lot of other extra goodies and kind of behind the scenes information. So every single donation through the subscription and any other place, goes straight to the podcast. It helps fund research and it really helps us out to keep this podcast going.

Speaker 1: 16:37

So before I go, I just want to thank all of my listeners for your continued support and for sending in cases that you wanted covered and stories that you wanted read on the podcast. We truly accept all stories scary, paranormal, funny. Anything that you want read or you want me to know, send it in. And any cases that you want covered, please send in. You can email those to darkcrossroadspodcastgmailcom. And, with all of this said, please don't forget to be weird, stay different and don't trust anyone.