Mystery surrounds the disappearance of an LA mom who was last seen at her son’s football game more than two weeks ago – after her dog was found alone on the 28th floor of an apartment building 12 miles from home.
Police have released home surveillance footage of Heidi Planck leaving her home in the Reynier Village district of Los Angeles on October 17. The pair drove off and Planck met her ex-husband, Jim Wayne, at a sports ground in the Downey district of LA to watch their 10-year-old son play football.
Planck said she needed to leave at half time, and has not been seen since.
Her dog, Seven, was found later that day in downtown Los Angeles on the 28th floor of a building, and was traced to her ex Wayne thanks to his microchip.
The owners of that apartment complex are reportedly refusing to cooperate with investigators and have denied requests to search the building’s parking structure and security footage without warrant, CBS 2 reported.
‘People are very, very attached to their pets, and their pets do not just go missing,’ said Jarrod Burguan, a retired San Bernardino police chief. ‘There clearly is something out of place here.’
Friends and family said that Planck was not known to have any connection to the building.
On Friday, federal agents and robbery homicide detectives from the LAPD entered her home with their guns drawn. Sources told CBS that officers believed they could be walking into a crime scene.
Photographers for LAPD were present at the house, as well as nearly a dozen other agents, who CBS reported went through every room, the garbage and planters around the home.
Heidi Planck, 39, was last seen at her 10-year-old son’s football game in Downey, Los Angeles, on October 17. She was reported missing on October 20
Investigators are probing whether Planck’s disappearance could be connected to her job, as her employer is under a federal securities investigation for possible fraud charges
Investigators are probing whether Planck’s disappearance could be connected to her job, as her employer is under a federal securities investigation for possible fraud charges, CBS 2 reported.
Planck’s LinkedIn says she works as a controller at Camden Capital – a role which sees her overseeing all employees involved in the accounting process, including accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, inventory and compliance.
Jason Sugarman, a managing partner at Camden Capital, was charged in June 2019 by the Securities and Exchange Commission for his role in a scheme to steal $43 million of client funds they purported to invest in Native American tribal bonds.
Sugarman is a minority owner of Los Angeles Football Club and son-in-law of Hollywood mogul Peter Guber, CEO of Mandalay Entertainment and owner of the Golden State Warriors NBA team.
Planck was seen on October 17 leaving her home, with her dog Seven. She climbs into the Range Rover and drives off
The footage, captured on surveillance camera, is being used to appeal for help in finding her
Meanwhile, Planck’s family and friends are deeply concerned that foul play was involved in her disappearance and say they are hopeful she can return home to them, and her son.
Wayne, who has 50/50 custody of their son, said that last time her saw her, at their son’s game, she had been ‘a little bit edgy’ but he didn’t know why.
He said that she wasn’t due to pick up their son until October 20, but unusually, he didn’t receive any calls or texts from her after she left the game.
‘She doesn’t let a day go by without either a text message or a phone call, even if she was really busy,’ Wayne said.
When she failed to pick up the boy from his school in Westwood, near Beverly Hills, on October 20, he knew something was deeply wrong.
‘She’s a devoted mother who would never, ever leave her son,’ Wayne told DateLine. ‘She wouldn’t let a day go by without talking to her son, there’s no way.”We have a 10-year-old boy at home that’s looking for his mom and we just need to find her.’
Jim Wayne, Planck’s ex-husband, said that he knew something was wrong when she failed to collect their son from school
Seven was found wandering the corridors of this apartment complex in downtown Los Angeles
Federal agents on Friday evening raided Planck’s home in Reynier Village, Mid-City Los Angeles
Seven, Planck’s dog, was found wandering the corridors of an apartment building in downtown Los Angeles on October 17
That’s when he filed a missing persons report with the LAPD who found her home empty.
Planck’s house was raided on Friday night and evidence removed from the property
However, Wayne said they did find a text on her phone, which had been left behind, from a woman who had found her dog Seven and traced her via its microchip.
Wayne he’s desperate to get Planck back for the sake of their son, who turns 11 this week and doesn’t want to celebrate without his mom.
‘He was doing OK until he saw a photo of them the other day – and then he just broke down,’ he said. ‘He told me that he just wanted one more time to talk to her. That hurt. That was really painful.’
‘We’re just hoping for a miracle and that she comes home.’
Planck is described as having blond hair and blue eyes, standing five feet, three inches tall and weighing about 120 pounds.
When she was last seen, she was wearing jeans and a gray sweater and was driving a gray 2017 Range Rover with California license plate U840X0.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Los Angeles Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit at 213-996-1800.
During non-business hours or on weekends, tipsters can call 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247).
Jason Sugarman, Elizaberh Guber-Sugarman and their son are seen in May 2014. Sugarman is the managing partner of Camden Capital, where Planck works. Jason Sugarman, Elizabeth Guber-Sugarman and their son are seen in May 2014. Sugarman is the managing partner of Camden Capital, where Planck works