Where is Heidi Planck? LA mom goes missing after she left son's football game midway
Police in Los Angeles are on the lookout for Heidi Planck, a 39-year-old mom who has been missing since October 17. That was the last time anyone heard or saw Planck, who had left her son's football game at halftime, reportedly looking "edgy". Planck's ex-husband Jim Wayne was only made aware she was missing three days later after she failed to pick up the couple's 10-year-old son from school.
The mysterious disappearance of Planck comes as the US is still very much on edge after the end of the hunt for Gabby Petito and her fiance Brian Laundrie. The Petito case put the spotlight on missing people, with nine bodies being discovered during the search for her. The case also led to other missing people getting national attention, such as Jelani Day, Cassie Sheetz, and now Planck.
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The last time Planck was seen, she was leaving her house in the Palm Springs area of Los Angeles on October 17. Here's everything we know about her, and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance.
Where is Heidi Planck?
Security footage from October 17 shows Planck leaving her LA home with her dog, and it is believed she went to Downey to watch her son play football. Around halftime though, she suddenly left the game under mysterious circumstances. "She may have been a little bit edgy. I don't know. I just know that was the last time we spoke to her," Wayne told CBSLA. Three hours later, her dog was found on the 28th floor of an apartment building, but Planck and her grey Range Rover were nowhere in sight.
However, the discovery of the dog didn't trigger any alarm bells immediately. Friends and family were only made aware she was missing three days later after Planck failed to pick up her son from school. "When she didn’t show up to pick Bond up on Wednesday, we knew something was wrong," one friend said. That's when Wayne went to the cops, kickstarting the search for Planck.
In the 10 days since little progress has been made. Her friends say building management won't let them into the parking garage of the apartment where Planck's dog was found. They also reportedly refused to share security tapes without a warrant. That apartment, in Downton LA, is now at the center of the mystery. "It seems to us that everything stems from that building where her dog was found," one friend said. Beyond finding the dog there, it's unclear if Planck has any links to the building.
On October 29, investigators obtained a warrant and searched Planck's home, but have not revealed if they found anything. They suspected the home to be a crime scene, given that Planck's boss is currently under investigation for possible fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission. At the time of reporting, police are yet to investigate the apartment where Planck's dog was found. "If you have seen anything, anything at all, we have a 10-year-old boy at home that’s looking for his mom and we need to find his mom. People don’t just disappear," Wayne added. Another friend said, "She’s a good person. Good mom," and noted that she "would never drop out of her son’s life." On October 30, they put up posters around the corner of 12th and Hope Street, near the mysterious apartment building.
Planck is reportedly 5-feet-3 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds. She is a White woman with blond hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing jeans and a grey sweater. Her grey 2017 gray Range Rover has a black-and-yellow California license plate of U840X0. If anyone has any information about Planck's whereabouts, they are urged to call the Los Angeles Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit at 213-996-1800. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call the Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477).
