WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Heidi Planck 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:16.445 School of Humans. On Sunday, October seventeenth, twenty twenty one, 0:00:16.925 --> 0:00:19.605 a thirty nine year old mother of one named Heidi 0:00:19.685 --> 0:00:23.045 Plank was starting her day. Heidi was leaving her rented 0:00:23.125 --> 0:00:26.125 townhouse on the west side of Los Angeles near Culver City. 0:00:27.205 --> 0:00:29.245 She was on her way to watch her eleven year 0:00:29.285 --> 0:00:32.965 old son Bond play football. Heidi, by the way, was 0:00:33.005 --> 0:00:36.165 a huge James Bond fan, so that's how she chose 0:00:36.205 --> 0:00:39.125 her son's and her dog's names based on the Double 0:00:39.125 --> 0:00:41.645 O seven theme. So her son was Bond and her 0:00:41.725 --> 0:00:46.365 labradoodle was seven like Double oh seven. Surveillance camera footage 0:00:46.365 --> 0:00:48.965 from outside Heidie's house showed her walking out the door. 0:00:49.325 --> 0:00:51.685 She was dressed in jeans and a white T shirt 0:00:51.725 --> 0:00:54.445 with a smiley face on it. She had a sweater 0:00:54.605 --> 0:00:56.845 tied around her waist and it was described in the 0:00:56.845 --> 0:00:59.125 media as gray, but it was actually more like a 0:00:59.205 --> 0:01:03.325 grayish color, kind of a gray beige. Heidie was petite, 0:01:03.485 --> 0:01:05.805 she had long blonde hair. She was he was five 0:01:05.885 --> 0:01:08.765 foot three and was carrying a purse with her. She 0:01:08.885 --> 0:01:12.365 was holding a cup of coffee in one hand, and seven, 0:01:12.485 --> 0:01:16.205 her dog, was on his leash walking behind her. She 0:01:16.325 --> 0:01:18.685 put seven in the car and climbed behind the wheel 0:01:18.685 --> 0:01:21.245 of the silver range Rover with a license plate U 0:01:21.325 --> 0:01:26.525 eight four zero XO, and drove away. Heidi was divorced 0:01:26.525 --> 0:01:29.365 from Bond's father. Her ex husband, a sixty three year 0:01:29.365 --> 0:01:32.765 old hairstylist named Jim Wayne. Jim had a salon in 0:01:32.805 --> 0:01:36.605 Beverly Hills. Jim and Heidi were married in two thousand 0:01:36.645 --> 0:01:39.965 and eight, but they divorced four years later, and at 0:01:39.965 --> 0:01:42.725 the time Heidi went missing, they shared custody of Bond. 0:01:43.565 --> 0:01:46.405 Jim told police that the last time he saw Heidi 0:01:46.605 --> 0:01:48.765 was when she showed up to her son's football game 0:01:48.765 --> 0:01:51.645 that afternoon. The game, by the way, was in Downy, 0:01:51.725 --> 0:01:54.765 which was around seventeen miles from Heidie's home, so it 0:01:54.765 --> 0:01:56.885 would have taken her around half an hour to get 0:01:56.885 --> 0:02:00.845 there from the townhouse. Several witnesses saw Heidi at that 0:02:00.925 --> 0:02:05.045 game and interacted with her. Jim said that she seemed 0:02:05.085 --> 0:02:07.325 a little bit on edge when she left the game 0:02:07.365 --> 0:02:10.725 at halftime, which was around four thirty PM, but there 0:02:10.805 --> 0:02:13.525 was nothing that seemed extremely out of the ordinary until 0:02:13.565 --> 0:02:16.605 they were looking at these events in hindsight. It was 0:02:16.725 --> 0:02:20.045 Jim's weekend with Bond, so Jim and Bond went home 0:02:20.085 --> 0:02:24.125 after the game. Heidi and Jim got along well. Even 0:02:24.165 --> 0:02:26.645 though there had been some rocky moments in their divorce, 0:02:27.245 --> 0:02:30.445 they apparently had had a good co parenting relationship for 0:02:30.485 --> 0:02:34.005 several years. When Heidi left the game, she told her 0:02:34.005 --> 0:02:36.645 son that she would call him later, But even though 0:02:36.725 --> 0:02:40.365 Heidi always talked to her son every single day, she 0:02:40.525 --> 0:02:43.925 never called him. In fact, Bond never talked to his 0:02:43.965 --> 0:02:49.605 mother again because that day Heidi Plank vanished, and after 0:02:49.685 --> 0:02:52.645 she disappeared, it did not take long for rumors to 0:02:52.685 --> 0:02:56.285 start flying about her ex husband Jim, about her boss, 0:02:56.365 --> 0:02:59.845 Jason Sugarman, about her boss's links to big money and 0:02:59.965 --> 0:03:03.205 powerful people in Los Angeles. In fact, to me, when 0:03:03.245 --> 0:03:05.885 I first saw Heidi on the news and I about 0:03:05.925 --> 0:03:09.365 this case, it seemed like a real life version of 0:03:09.405 --> 0:03:13.605 the movie Chinatown. It's now been over two years since 0:03:13.645 --> 0:03:16.965 Heidi plant disappeared. There's been no sign of Heidi and 0:03:17.045 --> 0:03:20.205 no sign of her body. All we have are some 0:03:20.365 --> 0:03:24.605 rumors about an apartment building in downtown Los Angeles and 0:03:24.685 --> 0:03:29.885 a devastated little boy without a mother. I'm Catherine Townsend. 0:03:30.325 --> 0:03:32.045 If you have a case you'd like me and my 0:03:32.085 --> 0:03:34.405 team to look into, you can reach out to us 0:03:34.445 --> 0:03:36.845 at our Helen Gone Murder line at six seven eight 0:03:37.045 --> 0:03:41.005 seven four four six one four five. That's six seven 0:03:41.045 --> 0:03:45.365 eight seven four four six one four five. This is 0:03:45.445 --> 0:04:20.885 Helen Gone Murder Line. Heidi Plank was originally from New 0:04:20.925 --> 0:04:23.925 York State. She was born and raised in Buffalo. In 0:04:23.925 --> 0:04:26.725 two thousand and one, she moved to California and went 0:04:26.725 --> 0:04:31.165 to California State University. Before we dive into Heidie's work life, 0:04:31.285 --> 0:04:33.805 I want to follow the natural trajectory of the police 0:04:33.805 --> 0:04:36.845 investigation and take a look at her relationship with her 0:04:36.845 --> 0:04:41.885 ex husband, Jim, because, as we all know, in any investigation, 0:04:42.045 --> 0:04:45.485 and especially if there is a contentious divorce, police are 0:04:45.565 --> 0:04:49.725 always looking at x'es. I actually did an episode of 0:04:49.765 --> 0:04:54.045 another podcast called Blood Money, it's about white collar criminals 0:04:54.085 --> 0:04:57.085 and con artists who kill about this case back in 0:04:57.085 --> 0:04:59.925 twenty twenty two, so I want to take a look 0:04:59.965 --> 0:05:04.165 at what has changed since then. So of course police 0:05:04.205 --> 0:05:06.885 want to know about Heidie's relationship with her ex husband. 0:05:07.565 --> 0:05:11.285 Jim and Heidi seem to have a friendly relationship, but 0:05:11.565 --> 0:05:14.765 according to court records, they had had some issues over 0:05:14.805 --> 0:05:18.365 the years. Court filing show they had had a battle 0:05:18.405 --> 0:05:21.765 for custody in the past, and at one point Jim 0:05:21.885 --> 0:05:25.125 had full custody of their son, and Jim had accused 0:05:25.165 --> 0:05:28.965 Heidie of drug abuse. Jim also made some comments to 0:05:29.005 --> 0:05:32.085 the media after Heidi went missing about how they had 0:05:32.125 --> 0:05:35.725 what he called different parenting styles. He said something about 0:05:35.765 --> 0:05:39.125 how Heidi was more permissive than he was, which did 0:05:39.205 --> 0:05:41.765 lead a lot of people to wonder what was going 0:05:41.765 --> 0:05:44.965 on at home to make him say that. But in 0:05:44.965 --> 0:05:48.125 addition to Jim's movements all week and long being confirmed 0:05:48.125 --> 0:05:51.085 by police, everyone who was close to Heidi said that 0:05:51.125 --> 0:05:54.285 her relationship with Jim had been good for some time. 0:05:55.085 --> 0:05:58.165 The last text between Jim and Heidi were not contentious. 0:05:58.725 --> 0:06:01.525 They were warm. Heidi was thanking Jim for all that 0:06:01.565 --> 0:06:04.925 he did for their son. Jim told police that he 0:06:05.005 --> 0:06:07.685 and his son last heard from Heidi at around seven 0:06:07.725 --> 0:06:11.965 pm that night, October seventeenth. Heidi had responded to one 0:06:11.965 --> 0:06:15.445 of her son's texts about the football game. Heidie's son 0:06:15.565 --> 0:06:17.965 sent another text a little while later, talking about a 0:06:17.965 --> 0:06:22.725 play he made, but this time Heidi didn't respond. In fact, 0:06:23.325 --> 0:06:26.445 that was the last time that Heidie's son ever heard 0:06:26.445 --> 0:06:29.725 from her. Jim and his son were worried for the 0:06:29.765 --> 0:06:33.925 rest of the weekend, but Heidi was obviously an adult. 0:06:34.005 --> 0:06:36.285 She was single and dating and had her own life. 0:06:36.885 --> 0:06:40.645 Jim told reporters, though, that Heidi never failed to respond 0:06:40.645 --> 0:06:43.085 to her son, no matter what was going on in 0:06:43.125 --> 0:06:46.245 her personal life or how busy she was, she always 0:06:46.285 --> 0:06:50.445 made time for him. Actually looking at the court records 0:06:50.445 --> 0:06:53.885 that document the text messages that Heidie's son sent to 0:06:53.965 --> 0:06:58.925 her is heartbreaking. On October eighteenth, at seven thirty one pm, 0:06:59.285 --> 0:07:02.485 Heidi's son wrote in a text message, can you please 0:07:02.565 --> 0:07:04.765 call me back? I called you two days in a 0:07:04.885 --> 0:07:09.885 row and you haven't picked up. By Monday morning, Jim 0:07:09.965 --> 0:07:13.365 and his son still had not heard from Heidi. That afternoon, 0:07:13.525 --> 0:07:16.965 Heidie's son texted again, please call or just text me 0:07:17.005 --> 0:07:19.045 because I want to make sure you're okay and I'm 0:07:19.045 --> 0:07:22.165 worried about you. Then he sent another text that read, 0:07:22.725 --> 0:07:25.845 please call mom. I miss you and I'm worried about you. 0:07:29.045 --> 0:07:32.125 The next day, October twentieth, was the day when Heidi 0:07:32.285 --> 0:07:34.525 was supposed to pick her son up at school, but 0:07:34.645 --> 0:07:39.885 she never showed up. Jim reported Heidi missing. At some point, 0:07:40.005 --> 0:07:42.285 he went into Heidie's townhouse with a friend of hers. 0:07:42.725 --> 0:07:46.445 They found Heidi's work laptop there and her work phone. 0:07:46.565 --> 0:07:49.805 Jim took the laptop and the phone. Now he did 0:07:49.885 --> 0:07:52.845 turn over the laptop and phone to law enforcement, but 0:07:52.925 --> 0:07:55.445 apparently it took a few days. And at the time, 0:07:55.565 --> 0:07:58.045 a lot of people on online comment boards are of 0:07:58.125 --> 0:08:00.845 course asking if he's so worried about her, why would 0:08:00.885 --> 0:08:05.165 he wait. But Heidi was an adult, so she probably 0:08:05.205 --> 0:08:08.845 was not an immediate priority for the police. And of course, 0:08:08.925 --> 0:08:13.325 in every missing person's investigation, every single decision anyone makes 0:08:13.365 --> 0:08:17.525 is under a microscope. But in my opinion, and according 0:08:17.525 --> 0:08:20.165 to all evidence that has come out, Jim Wayne was 0:08:20.205 --> 0:08:24.005 totally believable, and Jim, to his credit, immediately went to 0:08:24.045 --> 0:08:27.365 the police. As we've said, Heidi was an adult. So 0:08:27.525 --> 0:08:30.565 if Jim had any reason to want to wait so 0:08:30.605 --> 0:08:33.645 the investigation would not start immediately, he probably could have, 0:08:34.325 --> 0:08:36.405 but that's not what he did. He went to her house, 0:08:36.445 --> 0:08:39.645 he told friends he was calling people. He immediately called 0:08:39.685 --> 0:08:43.165 the police. He insisted that they investigate, and he commented 0:08:43.165 --> 0:08:47.325 to the media. Police talked to Heidi's family. Her mom 0:08:47.405 --> 0:08:50.285 told them the same thing Jim had. Heidi had been 0:08:50.325 --> 0:08:53.765 behaving normally. She was planning a vacation to New York 0:08:53.765 --> 0:08:56.845 to visit her mom for Thanksgiving, so she was happy 0:08:56.845 --> 0:09:00.205 and she was making future plans. Police figured out no 0:09:00.285 --> 0:09:05.485 one had heard from Heidi at all since October seventeenth, 0:09:06.125 --> 0:09:10.765 so they started asking logically about Heidie's love life. Now, 0:09:10.805 --> 0:09:14.165 at that time, Heidi had been seeing someone who lived 0:09:14.205 --> 0:09:18.245 in northern California. He was a Silicon Valley executive who 0:09:18.325 --> 0:09:22.005 worked for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the philanthropic arm of Facebook, 0:09:22.005 --> 0:09:25.765 which is now Meta. Police tracked down Haidie's boyfriend, who, 0:09:25.765 --> 0:09:29.685 by the way, was completely cooperative. He was verifiably somewhere 0:09:29.725 --> 0:09:31.765 else on the day when Hidi went missing, and he 0:09:31.845 --> 0:09:35.245 was cleared very quickly by law enforcement. But this man 0:09:35.405 --> 0:09:38.765 did tell the police something interesting. He said that Heidi 0:09:38.965 --> 0:09:41.325 had sent him a text asking him to come down 0:09:41.365 --> 0:09:44.605 to LA because she said she was afraid of something. 0:09:47.805 --> 0:09:50.165 But this guy was unable to make the trip, so 0:09:50.365 --> 0:09:54.285 actually he told police at first, after Heidie disappeared, he 0:09:54.365 --> 0:09:56.485 thought that maybe she was annoyed with him for not 0:09:56.525 --> 0:09:59.205 coming to LA, so maybe she was ghosting him. So 0:09:59.405 --> 0:10:03.205 now the police kind of hit a dead end because 0:10:03.205 --> 0:10:05.205 if this wasn't an X, then it wasn't a current. 0:10:05.205 --> 0:10:08.605 Really relationship. Who else would have a motive to want 0:10:08.605 --> 0:10:13.245 to hurt Heidi. Meanwhile, Jim Wayne, Heidie's ex husband, was 0:10:13.245 --> 0:10:17.085 playing detective and tracking down his own leads. He got 0:10:17.085 --> 0:10:19.565 the ven number for Heidie's Range Rover, but according to 0:10:19.605 --> 0:10:23.445 court documents, her location services wasn't on. He tried to 0:10:23.485 --> 0:10:26.045 find my phone feature on iPhone and Apple Watch, but 0:10:26.125 --> 0:10:29.485 those had also been turned off. At this point, Jim 0:10:29.565 --> 0:10:31.845 told the media he was starting to suspect this could 0:10:31.925 --> 0:10:34.765 be something that was planned. He believed this was not 0:10:34.885 --> 0:10:37.765 a random disappearance, and he mentioned the legal troubles that 0:10:37.885 --> 0:10:41.765 Heidie's boss, Jason Sugarman, had been having. Then there was 0:10:41.805 --> 0:10:45.365 another big break in the case. Jim checked the text 0:10:45.445 --> 0:10:47.885 messages on Heidie's phone, the one he had access to, 0:10:48.445 --> 0:10:50.965 and he found messages from a couple who lived in 0:10:51.005 --> 0:10:54.645 a luxury building in downtown LA and this couple said 0:10:54.645 --> 0:11:04.725 that they had Heidie's dog. The people who found seven 0:11:04.765 --> 0:11:07.565 lived in the Hope Flower Building in downtown Los Angeles, 0:11:08.045 --> 0:11:11.325 located at twelve oh one South Hope Street. We'll get 0:11:11.365 --> 0:11:13.325 into the history of the building in a little bit, 0:11:13.365 --> 0:11:17.325 but basically it's one of these luxury downtown high rises 0:11:17.365 --> 0:11:19.365 that have sprung up over the last couple decades in 0:11:19.405 --> 0:11:22.885 Los Angeles. It bills itself as a luxury high rise 0:11:23.005 --> 0:11:26.405 with rooftop views and a lot of amenities. But a 0:11:26.445 --> 0:11:29.845 lot of residents have complained over the years that the 0:11:29.965 --> 0:11:34.485 developers have neglected this building, that there's trash in the hallways, 0:11:34.805 --> 0:11:38.525 dog poop everywhere, and management that is unresponsive. And I'm 0:11:38.565 --> 0:11:40.525 not talking about just a couple of complaints. If you 0:11:40.565 --> 0:11:43.725 look at yelper views, there are hundreds of complaints on 0:11:43.805 --> 0:11:46.845 there from current and former tenants. So there's something strange 0:11:46.885 --> 0:11:50.805 going on in that building in my opinion. But getting 0:11:50.885 --> 0:11:54.285 back to Heidi, this couple said that around seven pm 0:11:54.365 --> 0:11:57.405 on the evening of October seventeenth. Now remember this was 0:11:57.485 --> 0:12:00.005 just a few hours after the game, and right after 0:12:00.085 --> 0:12:03.165 Bond got that last text from Heidie's phone, they said 0:12:03.165 --> 0:12:06.205 they found the dog seven roaming the hallway of that building. 0:12:06.805 --> 0:12:08.925 Some reports said that the dog was on the twenty 0:12:09.005 --> 0:12:11.925 ninth floor, others said the twenty eighth, but whichever it was, 0:12:12.165 --> 0:12:15.365 Heidi was not with seven. Jim went to pick up 0:12:15.405 --> 0:12:17.565 seven and brought him home. And since I know that 0:12:17.605 --> 0:12:19.845 people will ask, and I'm also an animal lover, I 0:12:19.885 --> 0:12:22.165 will tell you all right now, the dog is absolutely 0:12:22.205 --> 0:12:26.885 fine and apparently doing well. So what was Heidi doing 0:12:26.885 --> 0:12:29.565 at the Hope and Flower Building. Jim and her friends 0:12:29.645 --> 0:12:31.725 said they weren't aware of anyone she knew in that 0:12:31.765 --> 0:12:35.085 building or any connection she had there, And even stranger 0:12:35.125 --> 0:12:38.445 than that, why would she leave her dog who went 0:12:38.565 --> 0:12:43.285 everywhere with her roaming the hallways. According to news reports, 0:12:43.685 --> 0:12:47.765 the building management Omni Property were kind of uncooperative at first, 0:12:48.085 --> 0:12:51.725 but police got a search warrant and after that, Heidie's 0:12:51.765 --> 0:12:53.885 friends and family said the building did give them the 0:12:53.925 --> 0:12:58.045 access they needed and became more helpful. Meanwhile, some of 0:12:58.045 --> 0:13:00.365 them were wondering if the thing that Heidi had been 0:13:00.445 --> 0:13:02.925 afraid of could have been connected to her job and 0:13:03.005 --> 0:13:06.445 her boss, forty eight year old Jason Sugarman. According to 0:13:06.485 --> 0:13:09.885 Heidi's LinkedIn page, she worked for Coldwell Banker between two 0:13:09.885 --> 0:13:13.605 thousand and five and twenty fifteen, then Douglas Element, so 0:13:13.685 --> 0:13:15.925 she was working in real estate before she moved on 0:13:16.005 --> 0:13:18.965 to her job at a company called Camden Capital Partners. 0:13:19.605 --> 0:13:23.045 This was Jason Sugarman's company, and it's a company that 0:13:23.125 --> 0:13:26.885 is described as quote an investment advisory firm that handles 0:13:26.925 --> 0:13:30.765 wealth management and legacy planning for prominent high net worth individuals. 0:13:30.925 --> 0:13:34.805 End quote. This could be completely legitimate. There are lots 0:13:34.805 --> 0:13:38.645 of firms like this, but it's also very vague, and 0:13:38.765 --> 0:13:43.365 Jason Sugarman would soon show up in more headlines. Jason 0:13:43.445 --> 0:13:45.885 Sugarman is connected to a lot of people in power. 0:13:46.365 --> 0:13:48.525 His father in law is Peter Gruber, the owner of 0:13:48.565 --> 0:13:52.925 the Dodgers, and Jason was facing some serious legal issues, 0:13:53.165 --> 0:13:57.085 including federal fraud charges. He was under investigation by the 0:13:57.085 --> 0:14:01.365 Securities and Exchange Commission. According to the indictment, starting in 0:14:01.405 --> 0:14:05.885 twenty thirteen, Jason and his business partner Jason Galanis, stole 0:14:06.125 --> 0:14:09.245 forty three million dollars from pension funds of a Native 0:14:09.245 --> 0:14:12.805 American tribe of the Sioux Nation. These guys, who were 0:14:12.885 --> 0:14:15.765 known in the press as the two Jasons, were apparently 0:14:15.805 --> 0:14:19.285 trying to acquire this global financial conglomerate made up of 0:14:19.365 --> 0:14:22.405 insurers in Europe and Bermuda, as well as some investment 0:14:22.445 --> 0:14:27.165 advisors based in the United States. In twenty fourteen, Jason 0:14:27.165 --> 0:14:31.805 Galanas and his father, John Galanis obtained tribal bonds. They 0:14:31.845 --> 0:14:34.365 convinced the tribe they would sell them and use the 0:14:34.405 --> 0:14:38.085 proceeds to invest in the tribe, but instead, according to 0:14:38.085 --> 0:14:41.645 the authorities, they didn't. They just basically straight up stole 0:14:41.685 --> 0:14:44.765 the money. And what's worse, this was not some kind 0:14:44.765 --> 0:14:46.925 of Bernie made off type of scenario that started out 0:14:46.925 --> 0:14:50.605 as a legitimate investment. According to the sec these guys 0:14:50.685 --> 0:14:53.325 knew they were planning to steal right from the beginning. 0:14:54.125 --> 0:14:56.885 So it's kind of a long and complicated story with 0:14:56.925 --> 0:15:00.245 this money. But to sum it up, Jason Galanas and 0:15:00.325 --> 0:15:04.525 Jason Sugarman were accused of stealing millions of dollars from 0:15:04.525 --> 0:15:07.805 the Native American Trie Tribal Corporation and from these companies 0:15:07.845 --> 0:15:12.365 they acquired. In January of twenty seventeen, Jason Galanis pled 0:15:12.405 --> 0:15:15.485 guilty to criminal charges in connections with his fraud. He 0:15:15.645 --> 0:15:17.685 was sentenced to one hundred and seventy three months in 0:15:17.765 --> 0:15:23.285 jail the indictment read quote. Sugarman benefited immensely from the scheme. Indeed, 0:15:23.325 --> 0:15:25.485 to a large extent, he was the biggest winner from 0:15:25.525 --> 0:15:28.845 the fraud, ending up with voting control over corporate assets 0:15:28.845 --> 0:15:32.125 that were acquired with bond proceeds and from which he 0:15:32.205 --> 0:15:35.445 ultimately siphoned almost nine million dollars in cash for his 0:15:35.565 --> 0:15:39.405 direct and personal benefit end quote. So we know Jason 0:15:39.405 --> 0:15:42.605 Sugarman was accused of financial fraud. We also know that 0:15:42.645 --> 0:15:46.965 he has powerful friends, including Hunter Biden. He even has 0:15:47.125 --> 0:15:51.605 ties to Hunter Biden's now notorious Laptop of shame because 0:15:51.645 --> 0:15:54.685 emails from that laptop, in addition to photos of Hunter 0:15:54.725 --> 0:15:58.525 smoking crack and sex workers, reportedly showed that Jason was 0:15:58.525 --> 0:16:02.245 a director and shareholder of a company called Burnham Financial Group. 0:16:03.525 --> 0:16:06.285 If this name sounds familiar, that's because it's the same 0:16:06.325 --> 0:16:09.445 group that allegedly pitched a major deal to Hunter's Chinese 0:16:09.485 --> 0:16:14.005 business partners back in twenty fifteen. And one of Jason 0:16:14.045 --> 0:16:17.805 Sugarman's partners who was also mentioned in that SEC indictment 0:16:17.845 --> 0:16:21.485 is Devon Archer, the longtime friend and business partner of 0:16:21.565 --> 0:16:24.765 Hunter Biden. Devon Archer, by the way, was convicted for 0:16:24.885 --> 0:16:27.685 his involvement in that same tribal scam in twenty eighteen. 0:16:28.845 --> 0:16:31.925 Hunter Biden's lawyer, by the way, has totally denied all this. 0:16:32.285 --> 0:16:34.205 He said Hunter's client had nothing to do with the 0:16:34.285 --> 0:16:37.125 Native American bond scheme and that the timing was just 0:16:37.125 --> 0:16:41.885 a coincidence. According to the Sun newspaper, the lawyer said 0:16:41.965 --> 0:16:45.325 Hunter's name had been used without his permission and that 0:16:45.405 --> 0:16:48.125 he had taken steps to ensure that his business interests 0:16:48.165 --> 0:16:51.725 were not associated with the defendants in the tribal bond case. 0:16:52.445 --> 0:16:54.565 So what does all this have to do with Heidi Plank? 0:16:55.045 --> 0:16:57.685 A woman who, by the way, had no background in 0:16:57.765 --> 0:17:01.485 finance when she started working for Jason Sugarman's company. She 0:17:01.805 --> 0:17:04.885 was the bookkeeper for that company. And then there's what 0:17:04.965 --> 0:17:08.765 happened next Next. Jim Wayne said that on October twenty first, 0:17:09.205 --> 0:17:12.245 right after Hiding went missing, he got a phone call 0:17:12.325 --> 0:17:15.485 from someone at the SEC asking questions about Jason Sugarman. 0:17:16.725 --> 0:17:20.925 And then it got even more bizarre. Because CBS Los 0:17:20.965 --> 0:17:24.405 Angeles was following the story of Heidi Plank, they were 0:17:24.445 --> 0:17:27.405 somehow able to acquire some surveillance video that had been 0:17:27.405 --> 0:17:31.925 taken outside Heidie's house. There's video of Jason Sugarman, after 0:17:32.005 --> 0:17:35.845 Hiding went missing, ringing her doorbell and then leaving muffins 0:17:35.885 --> 0:17:39.285 on the doorstep. The news station says this video is 0:17:39.325 --> 0:17:41.565 from a day or two after Hiding went missing. They 0:17:41.605 --> 0:17:44.285 weren't more specific than that. But if you look at 0:17:44.285 --> 0:17:47.765 this footage, it's odd because Jason walks up to the 0:17:47.805 --> 0:17:51.165 door rings, the bell just once and then kind of 0:17:51.205 --> 0:17:53.925 seems to PLoP the muffins down and then he's out 0:17:53.925 --> 0:17:57.085 of there. He doesn't hesitate, he doesn't try to look inside. 0:17:57.605 --> 0:18:01.885 So now I'm wondering, was he really expressing concern or 0:18:01.965 --> 0:18:03.605 was he trying to make it look like he was 0:18:03.645 --> 0:18:06.925 expressing concern and looking for Heidi. Was he going through 0:18:06.925 --> 0:18:09.885 the motions so that he would appear on camera, or 0:18:10.365 --> 0:18:15.005 was Heidie's disappearance totally unconnected to him? But perhaps he 0:18:15.165 --> 0:18:17.405 wanted to see if someone was there who would give 0:18:17.485 --> 0:18:20.045 him that work laptop, which remember, was inside her house. 0:18:20.885 --> 0:18:23.165 What did the SEC want to talk to Heidi about? 0:18:23.765 --> 0:18:26.845 Heidi obviously is not here, so it's only speculation, but 0:18:27.365 --> 0:18:30.365 she reportedly told friends and family that the company had 0:18:30.405 --> 0:18:33.885 some tax filings that were due. She had complained that 0:18:34.125 --> 0:18:37.925 her boss, presumably meaning Jason Sugarman, had her name on 0:18:38.005 --> 0:18:41.285 so much of their corporate paperwork. Now, if this is true, 0:18:41.325 --> 0:18:45.325 it's a major flag for fraud investigators. In fact, this 0:18:45.445 --> 0:18:47.845 case seems to have a lot of red flags for 0:18:47.925 --> 0:18:51.325 potential fraud investigators, including the fact that Heidi was the 0:18:51.365 --> 0:18:54.485 person being asked to sign off on these complex transactions. 0:18:55.605 --> 0:18:59.325 Jim Wayne told the media that after Hiding went missing, 0:18:59.525 --> 0:19:02.725 he called her office. He said that Jason didn't seem 0:19:02.765 --> 0:19:05.325 like he was worried about Heidi or what happened to 0:19:05.325 --> 0:19:09.045 her at all, but he did say Jason Sugarman was 0:19:09.285 --> 0:19:12.405 very worried about that work laptop. Remember this was the 0:19:12.445 --> 0:19:16.045 work laptop that had been inside Heidie's house. Jim had 0:19:16.085 --> 0:19:18.125 taken it out of there and later handed it over 0:19:18.165 --> 0:19:22.845 to police. Jim Wayne told the Daily Mail, quote, while 0:19:22.845 --> 0:19:24.605 I was on the phone with his assistant, I heard 0:19:24.685 --> 0:19:27.245 Sugarman in the background barking at his assistant to tell 0:19:27.245 --> 0:19:30.245 me make sure he knows I want my laptop. There 0:19:30.285 --> 0:19:32.805 was no concern at all from my ex wife's employer. 0:19:33.165 --> 0:19:36.205 It's a multimillion dollar company. They didn't offer to hire 0:19:36.205 --> 0:19:39.445 a private investigator or put up a reward. The only 0:19:39.565 --> 0:19:46.725 thing they really seemed concerned about was Heidie's computer end quote. Again, 0:19:47.165 --> 0:19:51.645 Heidie's job was financial controller for Camden Capital Partners, which 0:19:51.685 --> 0:19:54.165 reportedly gave her a salary of one hundred and forty 0:19:54.205 --> 0:19:59.525 five thousand dollars a year and bonuses, and Jim made 0:19:59.565 --> 0:20:03.165 a comment he said she always had spare cash lying around. 0:20:04.845 --> 0:20:07.965 Jim Wayne said that someone at Jason Sugarman's office had 0:20:07.965 --> 0:20:12.685 told him they believed that Heidi was quote siphoning off 0:20:12.725 --> 0:20:17.925 money from the company end quote. So, according to Jim Wayne, 0:20:18.205 --> 0:20:21.885 someone at Jason Sugarman's office was allegedly implying that Heidi 0:20:22.045 --> 0:20:25.085 might have embezzled funds. But when Jim talked to The 0:20:25.125 --> 0:20:28.925 Daily Mail, he said he did not believe Heidi was 0:20:28.965 --> 0:20:30.445 to blame at all, and he said if there was 0:20:30.485 --> 0:20:33.845 any wrongdoing, it was from someone at that office, not her. 0:20:34.645 --> 0:20:37.845 Jim said, quote, Heidi knows all of Jason's and the 0:20:37.845 --> 0:20:40.885 company's secrets. She knows where the bones are buried. This 0:20:40.925 --> 0:20:43.805 whole thing just stinks. Something just isn't right, and I 0:20:43.805 --> 0:20:48.085 can't put my finger on it. End quote. After Hiding 0:20:48.125 --> 0:20:52.285 went missing, Jim filed a petition for temporary emergency custody 0:20:52.325 --> 0:20:56.485 of their son, and these court papers, in my mind, 0:20:56.605 --> 0:20:59.685 provide further evidence that there was no motive for Jim 0:20:59.725 --> 0:21:03.005 to do anything to Heidie, because, according to the court documents, 0:21:03.485 --> 0:21:07.045 Jim and Heidi shared custody of their son, and Jim 0:21:07.165 --> 0:21:10.325 did not pay Heidi any alimony or child support. He 0:21:10.365 --> 0:21:12.845 had paid her a lump sum in twenty twelve and 0:21:12.965 --> 0:21:16.005 nothing since then. So the bottom line is Jim Wayne 0:21:16.085 --> 0:21:18.925 had no obvious financial motive to do anything to Heidi. 0:21:19.485 --> 0:21:21.765 In fact, if he did do something to her, it 0:21:21.805 --> 0:21:23.885 would ensure that he would never get the support that 0:21:23.925 --> 0:21:27.525 he was asking for. Some people had suggested that Heidi 0:21:27.645 --> 0:21:29.885 might have disappeared voluntarily, and we do have to look 0:21:29.885 --> 0:21:33.925 at that possibility. According to court documents, in the past, 0:21:34.125 --> 0:21:37.645 Jim had alleged Heidi had some mental health issues. He 0:21:37.845 --> 0:21:40.565 said that she was addicted to adderall and had some 0:21:40.685 --> 0:21:44.245 kind of breakdown. In twenty fifteen, Jim talked to Los 0:21:44.245 --> 0:21:47.725 Angeles magazine about what happened that day. He said that 0:21:47.765 --> 0:21:50.485 Heidi had begun acting strangely while they were driving back 0:21:50.485 --> 0:21:52.605 to her house, that their son had been in the car, 0:21:53.005 --> 0:21:55.325 and that after they got back to his place, Heidi 0:21:55.485 --> 0:21:58.965 freaked out, trash Bond's room and crawled out a window. 0:21:59.605 --> 0:22:02.885 Then he said, she started running through the neighborhood. Police 0:22:02.925 --> 0:22:05.805 were called, and when they got there, they found Heidy 0:22:05.845 --> 0:22:09.765 switching an electrical circuit breaker on and off. It seemed 0:22:09.805 --> 0:22:12.045 like reading through these court papers, Heidi it had some 0:22:12.165 --> 0:22:15.285 kind of a break with reality. According to court records, 0:22:15.605 --> 0:22:19.165 Heidi agreed to check herself voluntarily into a psychiatric hospital. 0:22:20.085 --> 0:22:23.885 But after that incident, Heidi got better. She got a job. 0:22:23.965 --> 0:22:26.925 She started working for Camden Capital Partners, first as an 0:22:26.925 --> 0:22:30.205 assistant and then by twenty seventeen, is the financial controller. 0:22:31.245 --> 0:22:34.725 After the initial flurry of media activity, the case got 0:22:34.765 --> 0:22:38.245 pretty quiet for a couple of months. Then on November fourth, 0:22:38.285 --> 0:22:42.325 twenty twenty one, police announced they had found Heidi's Range 0:22:42.405 --> 0:22:44.845 Rover in the parking lot of a residential building that 0:22:44.965 --> 0:22:46.925 was a few blocks away from the Hope and Flower 0:22:46.925 --> 0:22:51.405 building where seven was found. And after that police announced 0:22:51.445 --> 0:22:55.285 another break they had more video footage of Heidi, footage 0:22:55.325 --> 0:22:58.605 that had been taken on that same day. On October seventeenth, 0:22:58.725 --> 0:23:02.765 at around six thirty pm, hours after she left her 0:23:02.765 --> 0:23:06.565 son's game, she was in downtown La walking in an 0:23:06.565 --> 0:23:09.885 alley between eleventh and twelve Streets. This is the little 0:23:09.925 --> 0:23:12.765 alleyway that runs behind the Hope and Flower building where 0:23:12.765 --> 0:23:16.125 the dog was found. She appeared to be wearing the 0:23:16.165 --> 0:23:19.205 same clothes and the sweater that she had been wearing earlier. 0:23:19.485 --> 0:23:23.325 She was wearing thisweater she had had tied around her waist. 0:23:23.565 --> 0:23:26.325 One of her friends told a local news station KTLA 0:23:26.805 --> 0:23:28.925 that Heidi looked like she was taking her dog for 0:23:28.965 --> 0:23:32.085 a quick walk. Now, there were some people out there 0:23:32.165 --> 0:23:35.365 who said that Heidie's hair looked darker, like she was 0:23:35.405 --> 0:23:37.765 wearing a wig. But I've looked at this footage and 0:23:37.885 --> 0:23:40.805 to me, that appears to be just a late afternoon lighting. 0:23:40.965 --> 0:23:43.805 It clearly looks like Heidi. She's wearing the same clothes 0:23:43.845 --> 0:23:46.525