Heidi Planck: Investigating the Mysterious Disappearance

You know when a story just… doesn’t sit right? Like that leftover tuna sandwich you knew you shouldn’t have eaten? That’s the vibe I got when I first heard about Heidi Planck. A finance exec, a normal soccer mom—and then poof—gone like the last piece of birthday cake at an office party.

The Basics: Who Was Heidi Planck?

Let’s rewind. I mean, way back to before the missing posters.

Heidi Planck lived in Los Angeles. (City of Angels—and missing persons cases, apparently.)
She worked in finance, in one of those jobs you nod at but secretly don’t understand.
Single mom vibes—she had a son, and from all accounts, adored the heck outta him.

Anyway, here’s the kicker: one Sunday, Heidi Planck goes to her kid’s football game. Normal. Then… she leaves early. And straight-up disappears. I’m talking wallet, dog, laptop—all left behind like she meant to pop back in five minutes.

Clues, Or Lack Thereof

Rain. Mud. A muddy dog, actually. That’s where teh weirdness really kicks in.

Heidi Planck’s dog was found wandering alone in a luxury apartment building downtown.
No sign of Heidi. Not in the building, not in nearby stores, not even on Uber Eats’ weird delivery photo logs.
Her Range Rover? Parked miles away, neat as a pin. (Unlike my trunk, which still smells like gym socks from 2018.)

Y’all, it’s like she evaporated.

The Finance Angle: Was It About Money?

I don’t wanna sound like a tinfoil-hat guy, but… follow the money, right? Always.

Turns out, Heidi Planck worked for this shady investment company. And I do mean shady—like, sunglasses-at-midnight shady.

Her boss, Jason Sugarman (real name, not a Bond villain), was being investigated for securities fraud.
Millions missing, regulators sniffing around like hungry hound dogs.

Fast forward past three failed Google searches for “what is securities fraud,” and I realized—maybe Heidi Planck knew something she wasn’t supposed to?

Or maybe not. I’m no Columbo. But it smells fishy. Like, Walmart-on-a-hot-day fishy.

The Timeline: Last Movements of Heidi Planck

Alright, folks. Let’s pull out the ol’ timeline (and try not to spill coffee on it this time, like I did when scribbling notes from “True Crime for Dummies”—highly recommend, by the way).

October 17, 2021 : Heidi Planck attends her son’s football game.
She leaves at halftime. No one thinks much of it. (Cue ominous music.)
Dog shows up hours later in a luxury apartment building 25 miles away.
No calls, no texts, nada from Heidi.

Also, if anyone figures out why the dog ended up in an apartment building where Heidi didn’t live… tell me. Because it’s still frying my brain like cheap diner bacon.

The Apartment Building: A Creepy Detail

Here’s where it gets all “CSI: Downtown LA.”

The building? Ultra-fancy.
Security cameras? Oh, tons.
Cooperation with police? About as enthusiastic as my cat when I try to dress him up for Halloween.

Authorities said the building management was “not forthcoming” with footage at first. Hmm. That’s not suspicious at all, right?

Personal Note: Why I Got Hooked on This Case

Honestly, at first, I didn’t even wanna deep-dive into Heidi Planck’s story. I figured, another LA mystery, another sad ending.

But then I remembered the time I lost my wallet for three days—and it turned out it had slid under the passenger seat of my car. Panic. Chaos. Tears. Multiply that by a million for her family.

There was something too normal about Heidi Planck. She wasn’t famous. She wasn’t an influencer hawking protein powders. She was just… a person.

And that’s what makes it stick in your craw, you know?

The Ex-Husband’s Role: Red Herring or Real Suspect?

Get this—Heidi Planck’s ex-husband, Jim Wayne, was the one who reported her missing. He sounded the alarm when she didn’t show up to pick up their son.

He told police about her “erratic” behavior before she vanished.
But like, erratic how? Spilling coffee on your pants is erratic. Doesn’t mean you’re about to vanish off teh face of the Earth.

Some armchair detectives online (hi, it’s me, I’m the problem) speculated that maybe he knew more than he let on. Others said he seemed genuinely concerned.

Honestly? I’m torn. I once thought my neighbor poisoned my fig tree… turned out I just forgot to water it for six weeks. (RIP, Figgy.)

The Investigation: Not Exactly a Slam Dunk

You ever start a project thinking, “Yeah, I got this,” and then two weeks later you’re crying into a bag of Funyuns? Yeah, that’s the LAPD and the Heidi Planck case.

Search warrants were slow.
Leads dried up faster than my 2020 sourdough starter—RIP, Gary.
Her laptop and phone were never found. Not even by nosy Redditors.

Even though the police said they suspected foul play early on, it didn’t seem like anything was moving fast. Like, at all.

Where It Gets SUPER Weird

Okay, hold onto your butts, because this next part had me doing the dramatic soap opera gasp.

There were rumors (strong rumors) that Heidi Planck accidentally witnessed something she shouldn’t have inside that luxury apartment building.

Something criminal.

Some people whispered about illegal gambling. Others mentioned drugs. A few said, in hushed tones, human trafficking.

Is any of it proven? Nope.

But that’s the problem. When there’s a black hole of info, our brains start stuffing it with every horror movie plotline we’ve ever binged at 2 a.m.

The Search for Heidi Planck: Ongoing, Kind Of

Police did search a landfill south of Los Angeles. Yes, a freaking landfill. Try explaining that search method to someone without sounding bleak.

Tons of manpower.
Heavy machinery.
Days and days of searching.

Guess what they found? Not much. (Unless you count old mattress springs and a shoe from circa 1993.)

I can’t even find my left sock half the time, so searching a literal mountain of garbage? Herculean effort, honestly.

The Public Reaction: Not What You’d Expect

You’d think a missing woman with ties to financial scandal would light up the media faster than a Kardashian wedding.

But for some reason, Heidi Planck’s case didn’t catch fire the way, say, Gabby Petito’s did.

Local media covered it. Kinda.
National media? Barely a blip.

Maybe it’s the “missing mom” thing not being “sexy” enough for clickbait? Maybe it’s that finance is boring unless someone’s getting scammed on TikTok.

Or maybe—and this makes my stomach churn—it’s just that she wasn’t famous enough.

Personal Tangent: What I Think Happened

Okay, putting on my detective cap (it’s covered in coffee stains and regret), here’s what I personally think:

Heidi Planck got mixed up in something shady because of her work.
She either saw too much or knew too much.
Someone panicked.

I know it sounds grim. But… a woman doesn’t just vanish on a sunny Sunday afternoon unless something serious went down.

Anyway, that’s just me. And considering I once locked myself out of my apartment because I thought my keys were in my other pants (they weren’t), maybe don’t take my detective skills to teh bank.

Where It Stands Now

As of today (and yeah, I triple-checked Google to be sure), Heidi Planck is still missing.

No body found.
No official cause of death.
No arrests.

Her family still holds out hope. Honestly, after this long? That’s a level of strength I can’t even fathom. I get cranky if Amazon delays my order two days.

Fun Fact Break (Because We All Need a Breather)

Random, but did you know Victorians believed that talking to their ferns could prevent insanity? As noted on page 42 of the out-of-print “Garden Mishaps & Miracles” (1998).

I talk to my begonias daily. Just in case.

Maybe if someone had been talking to Heidi Planck’s ferns, they could tell us where she went. Hey, crazier theories have been floated.