WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Heidi Planck [From the Archives] 0:00:46.480 --> 0:00:51.961 School of Humans. Helen Got Murder Line actively investigates cold 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:55.361 case murders in an effort to raise public awareness invite 0:00:55.401 --> 0:00:58.761 witnesses to come forward and present evidence that could potentially 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.961 be further investigated by law enforcement. While we value insights 0:01:03.001 --> 0:01:06.160 from family and community members, their statements should not be 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:09.961 considered evidence and point to the challenges of verifying facts 0:01:10.041 --> 0:01:14.000 inherent in cold cases. We remind listeners that everyone has 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.160 presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 0:01:17.961 --> 0:01:20.840 Nothing in the podcast is intended to state or imply 0:01:21.041 --> 0:01:23.601 that anyone who has not been convicted of a crime 0:01:24.121 --> 0:01:27.121 is guilty of any wrongdoing. Thanks for listening. 0:01:29.881 --> 0:01:34.080 On Sunday, October seventeenth, twenty twenty one, a thirty nine 0:01:34.161 --> 0:01:36.961 year old mother of one named Heidi Plank was starting 0:01:36.961 --> 0:01:40.321 her day. Heidi was leaving her rented townhouse on the 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:44.000 west side of Los Angeles near Culver City. She was 0:01:44.041 --> 0:01:46.201 on her way to watch her eleven year old son 0:01:46.441 --> 0:01:50.000 Bond play football. Heidi, by the way, was a huge 0:01:50.081 --> 0:01:53.281 James Bond fan, so that's how she chose her son's 0:01:53.401 --> 0:01:56.241 and her dog's names based on the double O seven theme. 0:01:56.561 --> 0:01:59.441 So her son was Bond and her labradoodle was seven, 0:01:59.641 --> 0:02:03.761 like double O seven. Surveillance camera footage from outside Heidie's 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:06.441 house showed her walking out the door. She was dressed 0:02:06.481 --> 0:02:08.721 in jeans and a white T shirt with a smiley 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:11.881 face on it. She had a sweater tied around her 0:02:11.921 --> 0:02:14.081 waist and it was described in the media as gray, 0:02:14.201 --> 0:02:16.641 but it was actually more like a grayish color, kind 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:20.520 of a gray beige. Heidie was petite. She had long 0:02:20.561 --> 0:02:23.641 blonde hair. She was five foot three and was carrying 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:26.401 a purse with her. She was holding a cup of 0:02:26.441 --> 0:02:29.881 coffee in one hand, and seven, her dog, was on 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:33.681 his leash walking behind her. She put Seven in the 0:02:33.721 --> 0:02:35.921 car and climbed behind the wheel of the silver range 0:02:36.001 --> 0:02:39.641 Rover with a license plate U eight four zero XO, 0:02:40.281 --> 0:02:44.120 and drove away. Heidi was divorced from Bond's father, Her 0:02:44.161 --> 0:02:47.641 ex husband, a sixty three year old hairstylist named Jim Wayne. 0:02:48.041 --> 0:02:51.801 Jim had a salon in Beverly Hills. Jim and Heidi 0:02:51.881 --> 0:02:54.601 were married in two thousand and eight, but they divorced 0:02:54.641 --> 0:02:57.641 four years later, and at the time Heidi went missing, 0:02:57.801 --> 0:03:01.321 they shared custody of Bond. Jim told police that the 0:03:01.401 --> 0:03:03.961 last time he saw Heidi was when she showed up 0:03:04.001 --> 0:03:07.081 to her son's football game that afternoon. The game, by 0:03:07.121 --> 0:03:09.601 the way, was in Downy, which was around seventeen miles 0:03:09.601 --> 0:03:12.361 from Heidie's home, so it would have taken her around 0:03:12.441 --> 0:03:15.761 half an hour to get there from the townhouse. Several 0:03:15.801 --> 0:03:18.561 witnesses saw Heidi at that game and interacted with her. 0:03:19.641 --> 0:03:22.801 Jim said that she seemed a little bit on edge 0:03:22.801 --> 0:03:25.001 when she left the game at halftime, which was around 0:03:25.041 --> 0:03:28.641 four thirty PM, but there was nothing that seemed extremely 0:03:28.681 --> 0:03:30.801 out of the ordinary until they were looking at these 0:03:30.801 --> 0:03:35.121 events in hindsight. It was Jim's weekend with Bond, so 0:03:35.281 --> 0:03:38.481 Jim and Bond went home after the game. Heidi and 0:03:38.641 --> 0:03:41.441 Jim got along well, even though there had been some 0:03:41.641 --> 0:03:44.801 rocky moments in their divorce, if they apparently had had 0:03:44.881 --> 0:03:48.961 a good co parenting relationship for several years. When Heidi 0:03:49.081 --> 0:03:51.121 left the game, she told her son that she would 0:03:51.161 --> 0:03:54.521 call him later, but even though Heidi always talked to 0:03:54.561 --> 0:03:58.921 her son every single day, she never called him. In fact, 0:03:59.081 --> 0:04:02.801 Bond never talked to his mother again because that day 0:04:03.441 --> 0:04:07.521 Heidi Plank vanished, and after she disappeared, it did not 0:04:07.721 --> 0:04:10.961 take long for rumors to start flying about her ex 0:04:11.041 --> 0:04:15.121 husband Jim, about her boss, Jason Sugarman, about her boss's 0:04:15.161 --> 0:04:18.081 links to big money and powerful people in Los Angeles. 0:04:18.601 --> 0:04:21.121 In fact, to me, when I first saw Heidi on 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:24.121 the news and I read about this case, it seemed 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:28.241 like a real life version of the movie Chinatown. It's 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:31.801 now been over two years since Heidi Plank disappeared. There's 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:34.641 been no sign of Heidi and no sign of her body. 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:38.521 All we have are some rumors about an apartment building 0:04:38.521 --> 0:04:42.920 in downtown Los Angeles and a devastated little boy without 0:04:42.921 --> 0:04:47.760 a mother. I'm Catherine Townsend. If you have a case 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:49.921 you'd like me and my team to look into, you 0:04:49.921 --> 0:04:52.001 can reach out to us at our Helen Gone Murder 0:04:52.041 --> 0:04:55.161 Line at six seven eight seven four four six one 0:04:55.241 --> 0:04:59.281 four five. That's six seven eight seven four four six 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:35.761 one four five. This is Helen Gone Murder Line. Heidi 0:05:35.881 --> 0:05:38.601 Plank was originally from New York State. She was born 0:05:38.601 --> 0:05:41.601 and raised in Buffalo. In two thousand and one, she 0:05:41.681 --> 0:05:45.721 moved to California and went to California State University. Before 0:05:45.721 --> 0:05:48.521 we dive into Heidi's work life, I want to follow 0:05:48.561 --> 0:05:51.801 the natural trajectory of the police investigation and take a 0:05:51.801 --> 0:05:55.481 look at her relationship with her ex husband, Jim, because, 0:05:55.721 --> 0:05:59.361 as we all know, in any investigation, and especially if 0:05:59.401 --> 0:06:03.320 there is a contentious divorce, police are always looking at xes. 0:06:04.481 --> 0:06:08.641 I actually did an episode of another podcast called blood Money, 0:06:08.921 --> 0:06:11.721 it's about white collar criminals and con artists who kill 0:06:12.201 --> 0:06:15.440 about this case back in twenty twenty two, so I 0:06:15.521 --> 0:06:17.841 want to take a look at what has changed since then. 0:06:18.881 --> 0:06:22.481 So of course police want to know about Heidie's relationship 0:06:22.481 --> 0:06:25.801 with her ex husband. Jim and Heidi seem to have 0:06:25.841 --> 0:06:30.200 a friendly relationship, but according to court records, they had 0:06:30.241 --> 0:06:33.921 had some issues over the years. Court filing show they 0:06:33.961 --> 0:06:36.801 had had a battle for custody in the past, and 0:06:36.961 --> 0:06:40.281 at one point Jim had full custody of their son 0:06:40.361 --> 0:06:44.361 and Jim had accused Heidi of drug abuse. Jam also 0:06:44.441 --> 0:06:47.121 made some comments to the media after Heidi went missing 0:06:47.561 --> 0:06:50.841 about how they had what he called different parenting styles. 0:06:51.241 --> 0:06:53.961 He said something about how Heidi was more permissive than 0:06:54.001 --> 0:06:56.801 he was, which did lead a lot of people to 0:06:56.841 --> 0:06:59.361 wonder what was going on at home to make him 0:06:59.361 --> 0:07:03.361 say that. But in addition to Jim's movements all week 0:07:03.401 --> 0:07:06.641 and long being confirmed by police, everyone who was close 0:07:06.681 --> 0:07:09.601 to Heidi said that her relationship with Jim had been 0:07:09.681 --> 0:07:13.201 good for some time. The last text between Jim and 0:07:13.241 --> 0:07:17.081 Heidi were not contentious. They were warm. Heidi was thanking 0:07:17.161 --> 0:07:20.201 Jim for all that he did for their son. Jim 0:07:20.281 --> 0:07:23.001 told police that he and his son last heard from 0:07:23.041 --> 0:07:27.161 Heidi at around seven pm that night, October seventeenth. Heidi 0:07:27.281 --> 0:07:29.641 had responded to one of her son's texts about the 0:07:29.641 --> 0:07:33.681 football game. Heidi's son sent another text a little while later, 0:07:33.801 --> 0:07:37.001 talking about a play he made, but this time Heidi 0:07:37.121 --> 0:07:41.441 didn't respond. In fact, that was the last time that 0:07:41.521 --> 0:07:45.321 Heidie's son ever heard from her. Jim and his son 0:07:45.401 --> 0:07:49.241 were worried for the rest of the weekend, but Heidi 0:07:49.401 --> 0:07:51.841 was obviously an adult. She was single and dating and 0:07:51.841 --> 0:07:55.521 had her own life. Jim told reporters, though, that Heidi 0:07:55.761 --> 0:07:58.761 never failed to respond to her son. No matter what 0:07:58.801 --> 0:08:01.161 was going on in her personal life or how busy 0:08:01.201 --> 0:08:05.840 she was, she always made time for him. Actually looking 0:08:05.881 --> 0:08:09.041 at the court records that document the text messages that 0:08:09.161 --> 0:08:13.881 Heidie's son sent to her is heartbreaking. On October eighteenth, 0:08:13.921 --> 0:08:16.921 at seven thirty one pm, Heidie's son wrote in a 0:08:16.961 --> 0:08:20.401 text message, can you please call me back? I called 0:08:20.441 --> 0:08:23.041 you two days in a row. And you haven't picked up. 0:08:24.481 --> 0:08:27.681 By Monday morning, Jim and his son still had not 0:08:27.721 --> 0:08:32.321 heard from Heidi. That afternoon, Heidie's son texted again, please 0:08:32.401 --> 0:08:34.241 call or just text me because I want to make 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:37.281 sure you're okay and I'm worried about you. Then he 0:08:37.321 --> 0:08:41.200 sent another text that read, please call mom. I miss 0:08:41.201 --> 0:08:47.241 you and I'm worried about you. The next day, October twentieth, 0:08:47.641 --> 0:08:49.601 was the day when Heidi was supposed to pick her 0:08:49.601 --> 0:08:53.881 son up at school, but she never showed up. Jim 0:08:53.961 --> 0:08:57.401 reported Heidi missing. At some point, he went into Heidie's 0:08:57.401 --> 0:09:00.361 townhouse with a friend of hers. They found Heidi's work 0:09:00.441 --> 0:09:04.481 laptop there and her work phone. Jim took the laptop 0:09:04.521 --> 0:09:07.721 and the phone. Now he did turn over the laptop 0:09:07.721 --> 0:09:10.241 and phone to law enforcement, but apparently it took a 0:09:10.241 --> 0:09:12.841 few days. And at the time a lot of people 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.840 on online comment boards are of course asking if he's 0:09:15.841 --> 0:09:19.801 so worried about her, why would he wait. But Heidi 0:09:20.041 --> 0:09:22.641 was an adult, so she probably was not an immediate 0:09:22.721 --> 0:09:26.280 priority for the police. And of course, in every missing 0:09:26.361 --> 0:09:30.841 person's investigation, every single decision anyone makes is under a microscope. 0:09:31.841 --> 0:09:34.681 But in my opinion and according to all evidence, that 0:09:34.721 --> 0:09:38.841 has come out. Jim Wayne was totally believable, and Jim, 0:09:38.881 --> 0:09:42.560 to his credit, immediately went to the police. As we've said, 0:09:42.681 --> 0:09:45.561 Heidi was an adult, so if Jim had any reason 0:09:45.721 --> 0:09:49.001 to want to wait so the investigation would not start immediately, 0:09:49.041 --> 0:09:51.801 he probably could have, but that's not what he did. 0:09:51.881 --> 0:09:54.041 He went to her house. He told friends he was 0:09:54.081 --> 0:09:57.521 calling people. He immediately called the police. He insisted that 0:09:57.561 --> 0:10:01.921 they investigate, and he commented to the media. Police talked 0:10:01.961 --> 0:10:04.680 to Heidie's family. Her mom told them the same thing 0:10:04.761 --> 0:10:08.881 Jim had. Heidi had been behaving normally. She was planning 0:10:08.881 --> 0:10:11.641 a vacation to New York to visit her mom for Thanksgiving, 0:10:12.161 --> 0:10:14.761 so she was happy and she was making future plans. 0:10:15.481 --> 0:10:18.280 Police figured out no one had heard from Heidi at 0:10:18.321 --> 0:10:25.481 all since October seventeenth, so they started asking logically about 0:10:25.521 --> 0:10:29.280 Heidie's love life. Now, at that time, Heidi had been 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:32.961 seeing someone who lived in northern California. He was a 0:10:33.001 --> 0:10:36.641 Silicon Valley executive who worked for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, 0:10:36.841 --> 0:10:40.361 the philanthropic arm of Facebook, which is now Meta. Police 0:10:40.401 --> 0:10:43.361 tracked down Heidie's boyfriend, who, by the way, was completely 0:10:43.401 --> 0:10:46.881 cooper He was verifiably somewhere else on the day when 0:10:46.921 --> 0:10:49.521 Heidi went missing, and he was cleared very quickly by 0:10:49.601 --> 0:10:53.561 law enforcement. But this man did tell the police something interesting. 0:10:54.081 --> 0:10:57.040 He said that Heidi had sent him a text asking 0:10:57.121 --> 0:11:00.041 him to come down to LA because she said she 0:11:00.121 --> 0:11:05.481 was afraid of something. But this guy was unable to 0:11:05.481 --> 0:11:08.841 make the trip, so actually he told police. At first 0:11:08.921 --> 0:11:12.361 after Heidie disappeared, he thought that maybe she was annoyed 0:11:12.361 --> 0:11:14.361 with him for not coming to LA, so maybe she 0:11:14.481 --> 0:11:18.521 was ghosting him. So now the police kind of hit 0:11:18.601 --> 0:11:20.841 a dead end because if this wasn't an X and 0:11:20.921 --> 0:11:24.281 it wasn't a current relationship, who else would have a 0:11:24.321 --> 0:11:28.881 motive to want to hurt Heidi. Meanwhile, Jim Wayne, Heidie's 0:11:28.921 --> 0:11:32.361 ex husband, was playing detective and tracking down his own leads. 0:11:33.161 --> 0:11:35.481 He got the ven number for Heidie's Range Rover, but 0:11:35.521 --> 0:11:39.441 according to court documents, her location services wasn't on. He 0:11:39.521 --> 0:11:42.241 tried to find my phone feature on iPhone and Apple Watch, 0:11:42.401 --> 0:11:45.481 but those had also been turned off. At this point, 0:11:45.681 --> 0:11:48.001 Jim told the media he was starting to suspect this 0:11:48.081 --> 0:11:51.041 could be something that was planned. He believed this was 0:11:51.121 --> 0:11:54.121 not a random disappearance, and he mentioned the legal troubles 0:11:54.121 --> 0:11:58.081 that Heidie's boss, Jason Sugarman, had been having Then there 0:11:58.121 --> 0:12:01.521 was another big break in the case. Jim checked the 0:12:01.561 --> 0:12:04.321 text messages on Heidie's phone, the one he had access to, 0:12:04.881 --> 0:12:07.401 and he found messages from a couple who lived in 0:12:07.441 --> 0:12:11.081 a luxury building in downtown LA and this couple said 0:12:11.081 --> 0:12:21.121 that they had Heidie's dog. The people who found seven 0:12:21.241 --> 0:12:24.001 lived in the Hope and Flower Building in downtown Los Angeles, 0:12:24.481 --> 0:12:27.761 located at twelve oh one South Hope Street. We'll get 0:12:27.801 --> 0:12:29.761 into the history of the building in a little bit, 0:12:29.801 --> 0:12:33.761 but basically, it's one of these luxury downtown high rises 0:12:33.801 --> 0:12:35.801 that have sprung up over the last couple decades in 0:12:35.841 --> 0:12:39.321 Los Angeles. It bills itself as a luxury high rise 0:12:39.441 --> 0:12:42.841 with rooftop views and a lot of amenities, but a 0:12:42.881 --> 0:12:46.281 lot of residents have complained over the years that the 0:12:46.401 --> 0:12:50.920 developers have neglected this building, that there's trash in the hallways, 0:12:51.241 --> 0:12:54.961 dog poop everywhere, and management that is unresponsive. And I'm 0:12:55.001 --> 0:12:56.961 not talking about just a couple of complaints. If you 0:12:57.001 --> 0:13:00.441 look at yelperviews, there are hundreds of complaints on there 0:13:00.601 --> 0:13:03.521 from current and former tenants. So there's something strange going 0:13:03.561 --> 0:13:07.481 on in that building. In my opinion. But getting back 0:13:07.521 --> 0:13:10.881 to Heidi, this couple said that around seven pm on 0:13:10.921 --> 0:13:13.961 the evening of October seventeenth. Now remember this was just 0:13:14.001 --> 0:13:16.841 a few hours after the game, and right after Bond 0:13:16.921 --> 0:13:19.761 got that last text from Heidie's phone, they said they 0:13:19.801 --> 0:13:22.641 found the dog seven roaming the hallways of that building. 0:13:23.241 --> 0:13:25.361 Some reports said that the dog was on the twenty 0:13:25.441 --> 0:13:28.361 ninth floor, others said the twenty eighth, but whichever it was, 0:13:28.601 --> 0:13:31.801 Heidi was not with seven. Jim went to pick up 0:13:31.841 --> 0:13:34.001 seven and brought him home. And since I know that 0:13:34.041 --> 0:13:36.280 people will ask, and I'm also an animal over, I 0:13:36.321 --> 0:13:38.601 will tell you all right now. The dog is absolutely 0:13:38.601 --> 0:13:43.281 fine and apparently doing well. So what was Heidi doing 0:13:43.321 --> 0:13:46.321 at the Hope Flower Building? Jim and her friends said 0:13:46.321 --> 0:13:48.481 they weren't aware of anyone she knew in that building 0:13:48.641 --> 0:13:51.841 or any connection she had there, And even stranger than that, 0:13:52.601 --> 0:13:55.721 why would she leave her dog who went everywhere with 0:13:55.881 --> 0:14:00.641 her roaming the hallways. According to news reports, the building 0:14:00.681 --> 0:14:04.641 management OMNI property were kind of uncooperative at first, but 0:14:04.681 --> 0:14:08.481 police got a search warrant and after that, Heidie's friends 0:14:08.481 --> 0:14:10.761 and family said the building did give them the access 0:14:10.761 --> 0:14:14.641 they needed and became more helpful. Meanwhile, some of them 0:14:14.721 --> 0:14:17.280 were wondering if the thing that Heidie had been afraid 0:14:17.321 --> 0:14:19.961 of could have been connected to her job and her boss, 0:14:20.121 --> 0:14:24.161 forty eight year old Jason Sugarman. According to Heidie's LinkedIn page, 0:14:24.241 --> 0:14:26.881 she worked for Coldwell Banker between two thousand and five 0:14:26.881 --> 0:14:30.801 and twenty fifteen, then Douglas Element, so she was working 0:14:30.841 --> 0:14:33.041 in real estate before she moved on to her job 0:14:33.121 --> 0:14:36.881 at a company called Camden Capital Partners. This was Jason 0:14:36.881 --> 0:14:40.441 Sugarman's company, and it's a company that is described as 0:14:40.561 --> 0:14:44.161 quote an investment advisory firm that handles wealth mannment and 0:14:44.241 --> 0:14:49.401 legacy planning for prominent high net worth individuals. This could 0:14:49.401 --> 0:14:52.001 be completely legitimate. There are lots of firms like this, 0:14:52.521 --> 0:14:57.241 but it's also very vague, and Jason Sugarman would soon 0:14:57.321 --> 0:15:01.121 show up in more headlines. Jason Sugarman is connected to 0:15:01.161 --> 0:15:03.561 a lot of people in power. His father in law 0:15:03.601 --> 0:15:07.001 is Peter Gruber, the owner of the Dodgers, and Jason 0:15:07.241 --> 0:15:11.281 was facing some serious legal issues, including federal fraud charges. 0:15:11.921 --> 0:15:15.041 He was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. 0:15:15.961 --> 0:15:19.881 According to the indictment, starting in twenty thirteen, Jason and 0:15:19.921 --> 0:15:23.881 his business partner, Jason Galanis, stole forty three million dollars 0:15:23.881 --> 0:15:26.681 from pension funds of a Native American tribe of the 0:15:26.721 --> 0:15:30.001 Sioux Nation. These guys, who were known in the press 0:15:30.041 --> 0:15:33.201 as the Two Jasons, were apparently trying to acquire this 0:15:33.281 --> 0:15:37.521 global financial conglomerate made up of insurers in Europe and Bermuda, 0:15:37.601 --> 0:15:40.641 as well as some investment advisors based in the United States. 0:15:41.441 --> 0:15:45.161 In twenty fourteen, Jason go Llanas and his father, John 0:15:45.201 --> 0:15:49.601 Galanis obtained tribal bonds. They convinced the tribe they would 0:15:49.641 --> 0:15:52.761 sell them and use the proceeds to invest in the tribe. 0:15:53.321 --> 0:15:56.681 But instead, according to the authorities, they didn't. They just 0:15:56.761 --> 0:16:00.321 basically straight up stole the money. And what's worse, this 0:16:00.481 --> 0:16:02.281 was not some kind of Bernie made off type of 0:16:02.321 --> 0:16:05.361 scenario that started out as a legitimate investment. According to 0:16:05.361 --> 0:16:08.641 the sec these guys knew they were planning to steal 0:16:08.881 --> 0:16:12.001 right from the beginning. So it's kind of a long 0:16:12.081 --> 0:16:15.321 and complicated story with this money. But to sum it up, 0:16:15.641 --> 0:16:20.041 Jason Galanas and Jason Sugarman were accused of stealing millions 0:16:20.081 --> 0:16:23.601 of dollars from the Native American tribal corporation and from 0:16:23.601 --> 0:16:27.961 these companies they acquired. In January of twenty seventeen, Jason 0:16:28.001 --> 0:16:31.401 galanis pled guilty to criminal charges in connections with this fraud. 0:16:31.841 --> 0:16:34.001 He was sentenced to one hundred and seventy three months 0:16:34.041 --> 0:16:38.721 in jail. The indictment read quote Sugarman benefited immensely from 0:16:38.721 --> 0:16:41.161 the scheme. Indeed, to a large extent, he was the 0:16:41.161 --> 0:16:44.161 biggest winner from the fraud, ending up with voting control 0:16:44.241 --> 0:16:47.601 over corporate assets that were acquired with bond proceeds and 0:16:47.921 --> 0:16:51.241 from which he ultimately siphoned almost nine million dollars in 0:16:51.321 --> 0:16:55.201 cash for his direct and personal benefit. Quote. So we 0:16:55.281 --> 0:16:58.681 know Jason Sugarman was accused of financial fraud. We also 0:16:58.761 --> 0:17:02.681 know that he has powerful friends, including Hunter Biden. He 0:17:02.801 --> 0:17:07.001 even has ties to Hunter Biden's now notorious Laptop of shame, 0:17:07.681 --> 0:17:10.640 because emails from that laptop, in addition to photos of 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:14.801 Hunter smoking crack and sex workers, reportedly show that Jason 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:17.961 was a director and shareholder of a company called Burnham 0:17:17.961 --> 0:17:22.241 Financial Group. If this name sounds familiar, that's because it's 0:17:22.281 --> 0:17:25.001 the same group that allegedly pitched a major deal to 0:17:25.120 --> 0:17:30.001 Hunter's Chinese business partners back in twenty fifteen, and one 0:17:30.001 --> 0:17:33.241 of Jason Sugarman's partners who was also mentioned in that 0:17:33.360 --> 0:17:37.521 SEC indictment is Devon Archer, the longtime friend and business 0:17:37.521 --> 0:17:40.640 partner of Hunter Biden. Devon Archer, by the way, was 0:17:40.681 --> 0:17:43.201 convicted for his involvement in that same tribal scam in 0:17:43.201 --> 0:17:47.081 two thousand eighteen. Hunter Biden's lawyer, by the way, has 0:17:47.120 --> 0:17:50.241 totally denied all this. He said Hunter's client had nothing 0:17:50.281 --> 0:17:52.761 to do with the Native American bond scheme and that 0:17:52.801 --> 0:17:56.801 the timing was just a coincidence. According to the Sun newspaper, 0:17:57.401 --> 0:18:00.160 the lawyer said Hunter's name had been used without his 0:18:00.201 --> 0:18:03.400 permission and that he had taken steps to ensure that 0:18:03.481 --> 0:18:07.080 his business interests were not associated with the defendants in 0:18:07.121 --> 0:18:09.840 the tribal bond case. So what does all this have 0:18:09.881 --> 0:18:12.761 to do with Heidi Plank, a woman who, by the way, 0:18:12.921 --> 0:18:15.681 had no background in finance when she started working for 0:18:15.761 --> 0:18:19.961 Jason Sugarman's company. She was the bookkeeper for that company. 0:18:20.521 --> 0:18:23.801 And then there's what happened next. Jim Wayne said that 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:27.721 on October twenty first, right after Heidi went missing, he 0:18:27.801 --> 0:18:30.481 got a phone call from someone at the SEC asking 0:18:30.561 --> 0:18:35.721 questions about Jason Sugarman. And then it got even more bizarre. 0:18:35.801 --> 0:18:39.921 Because CBS Los Angeles was following the story of Heidi Plank, 0:18:40.481 --> 0:18:43.481 they were somehow able to acquire some surveillance video that 0:18:43.481 --> 0:18:47.400 had been taken outside Heidie's house. There's video of Jason 0:18:47.481 --> 0:18:51.281 Sugarmant after Hiding went missing, ringing her doorbell and then 0:18:51.401 --> 0:18:55.041 leaving muffins on the doorstep. The news station says this 0:18:55.201 --> 0:18:57.840 video is from a day or two after Hiding went missing. 0:18:57.881 --> 0:19:00.561 They weren't more specific than that, But if you look 0:19:00.601 --> 0:19:04.080 at this footage, it's odd because Jason walks up to 0:19:04.121 --> 0:19:07.561 the door, rings the bell just once and then kind 0:19:07.561 --> 0:19:10.080 of seems to PLoP the muffins down, and then he's 0:19:10.161 --> 0:19:12.801 out of there. He doesn't hesitate, he doesn't try to 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:17.041 look inside. So now I'm wondering was he really expressing 0:19:17.121 --> 0:19:19.721 concern or was he trying to make it look like 0:19:19.801 --> 0:19:22.801 he was expressing concern and looking for Heidi. Was he 0:19:22.881 --> 0:19:25.481 going through the motions so that he would appear on camera, 0:19:26.201 --> 0:19:31.241 or was Heidi's disappearance totally unconnected to him? But perhaps 0:19:31.361 --> 0:19:33.681 he wanted to see if someone was there who would 0:19:33.681 --> 0:19:36.441 give him that work laptop, which remember was inside her house. 0:19:37.321 --> 0:19:39.600 What did the SEC want to talk to Heidi about. 0:19:40.201 --> 0:19:43.281 Heidi obviously is not here, so it's only speculation, but 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:46.801 she reportedly told friends and family that the company had 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:50.321 some tax filings that were due. She had complained that 0:19:50.561 --> 0:19:54.360 her boss, presumably meaning Jason Sugarman, had her name on 0:19:54.441 --> 0:19:57.721 so much of their corporate paperwork. Now, if this is true, 0:19:57.761 --> 0:20:01.761 it's a major flag for fraud investigators. In fact, this 0:20:01.881 --> 0:20:04.281 case seems to have a lot of red flags for 0:20:04.361 --> 0:20:07.761 potential fraud investigators, including the fact that Heidi was the 0:20:07.801 --> 0:20:10.921 person being asked to sign off on these complex transactions. 0:20:12.041 --> 0:20:15.761 Jim Wayne told the media that after Hiding went missing, 0:20:15.961 --> 0:20:19.161 he called her office. He said that Jason didn't seem 0:20:19.201 --> 0:20:21.761 like he was worried about Heidi or what happened to 0:20:21.801 --> 0:20:25.481 her at all, but he did say Jason Sugarman was 0:20:25.721 --> 0:20:28.840 very worried about that work laptop. Remember this was the 0:20:28.881 --> 0:20:32.481 work laptop that had been inside Heidie's house. Jim had 0:20:32.521 --> 0:20:34.521 taken it out of there and later handed it over 0:20:34.601 --> 0:20:39.281 to police. Jim Wayne told the Daily Mail quote, while 0:20:39.281 --> 0:20:41.041 I was on the phone with his assistant, I heard 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:43.561 Sugarman in the background barking at his assistant to tell 0:20:43.601 --> 0:20:46.681 me make sure he knows I want my laptop. There 0:20:46.721 --> 0:20:49.241 was no concern at all from my ex wife's employer. 0:20:49.601 --> 0:20:52.641 It's a multimillion dollar company. They didn't offer to hire 0:20:52.641 --> 0:20:55.880 a private investigator or put up a reward. The only 0:20:56.001 --> 0:21:03.160 thing they really seemed concerned about was Heidie's computer end quote. Again, 0:21:03.601 --> 0:21:08.080 Heidi's job was financial controller for Camden Capital Partners, which 0:21:08.121 --> 0:21:10.641 reportedly gave her a salary of one hundred and forty 0:21:10.641 --> 0:21:15.961 five thousand dollars a year and bonuses, and Jim made 0:21:16.001 --> 0:21:19.561 a comment he said she always had spare cash lying around. 0:21:21.281 --> 0:21:24.401 Jim Wayne said that someone at Jason Sugarman's office had 0:21:24.401 --> 0:21:29.121 told him they believed that Heidi was quote siphoning off 0:21:29.161 --> 0:21:34.321 money from the company end quote. So, according to Jim Wayne, 0:21:34.641 --> 0:21:38.321 someone at Jason Sugarman's office was allegedly implying that Heidi 0:21:38.481 --> 0:21:41.521 might have embezzled funds. But when Jim talked to The 0:21:41.561 --> 0:21:45.360 Daily Mail, he said he did not believe Heidi was 0:21:45.401 --> 0:21:46.880 to blame at all, and he said if there was 0:21:46.921 --> 0:21:50.321 any wrongdoing, it was from someone at that office, not her. 0:21:51.041 --> 0:21:54.281 Jim said, quote Heidi knows all of Jason's and the 0:21:54.281 --> 0:21:57.321 company's secrets. She knows where the bones are buried. This 0:21:57.361 --> 0:22:00.241 whole thing just stinks. Something just isn't right, and I 0:22:00.241 --> 0:22:04.521 can't put my finger on it. End quote. After Hiding 0:22:04.561 --> 0:22:08.721 went missing, Jim filed a petition for temporary emergency custody 0:22:08.761 --> 0:22:12.921 of their son, and these court papers, in my mind, 0:22:13.041 --> 0:22:16.121 provide further evidence that there was no motive for Jim 0:22:16.161 --> 0:22:19.441 to do anything to Heidie, because, according to the court documents, 0:22:19.921 --> 0:22:23.481 Jim and Heidi shared custody of their son, and Jim 0:22:23.561 --> 0:22:26.761 did not pay Heidi any alimony or child support. He 0:22:26.801 --> 0:22:29.281 had paid her a lump sum in twenty twelve and 0:22:29.401 --> 0:22:32.481 nothing since then. So the bottom line is Jim Wayne 0:22:32.521 --> 0:22:35.360 had no obvious financial motive to do anything to Heidi. 0:22:35.921 --> 0:22:38.201 In fact, if he did do something to her, it 0:22:38.241 --> 0:22:40.321 would ensure that he would never get the support that 0:22:40.361 --> 0:22:44.001 he was asking for. Some people had suggested that Heidi 0:22:44.080 --> 0:22:46.321 might have disappeared voluntarily, and we do have to look 0:22:46.321 --> 0:22:50.360 at that possibility. According to court documents. In the past, 0:22:50.561 --> 0:22:54.080 Jim had alleged Heidi had some mental health issues. He 0:22:54.281 --> 0:22:57.001 said that she was addicted to adderall and had some 0:22:57.121 --> 0:23:00.681 kind of breakdown. In twenty fifteen, Jim talked to Los 0:23:00.681 --> 0:23:04.160 Angeles magazine about what happened that day. He said that 0:23:04.201 --> 0:23:06.921 Heidi had begun acting strangely while they were driving back 0:23:06.921 --> 0:23:09.041 to her house, that their son had been in the car, 0:23:09.441 --> 0:23:11.761 and that after they got back to his place, Heidi 0:23:11.921 --> 0:23:15.321 freaked out, trash Bond's room and crawled out a window. 0:23:16.041 --> 0:23:19.321 Then he said, she started running through the neighborhood. Police 0:23:19.361 --> 0:23:22.120 were called and when they got there, they found Heidi 0:23:22.241 --> 0:23:26.200 switching an electrical circuit breaker on and off. It seemed 0:23:26.241 --> 0:23:28.481 like reading through these court papers, Heidi. It had some 0:23:28.601 --> 0:23:31.761 kind of a break with reality. According to court records, 0:23:32.041 --> 0:23:35.601 Heidi agreed to check herself voluntarily into a psychiatric hospital. 0:23:36.521 --> 0:23:40.321 But after that incident, Heidi got better. She got a job. 0:23:40.361 --> 0:23:43.321 She started working for Camden Capital Partners, first as an 0:23:43.321 --> 0:23:46.641 assistant and then by twenty seventeen, is the financial controller. 0:23:47.681 --> 0:23:51.161 After the initial flurry of media activity, the case got 0:23:51.201 --> 0:23:54.681 pretty quiet for a couple of months. Then on November fourth, 0:23:54.721 --> 0:23:58.761 twenty twenty one, police announced they had found Heidi's Range 0:23:58.840 --> 0:24:01.281 Rover in the parking lot of a residential building that 0:24:01.361 --> 0:24:03.321 was a few blocks away from the Hope and Flower 0:24:03.361 --> 0:24:07.881 building where seven was found. And after that police announced 0:24:07.881 --> 0:24:11.761 another break they had more video footage of Heidi footage 0:24:11.761 --> 0:24:15.041 that had been taken on that same day. On October seventeenth, 0:24:15.161 --> 0:24:19.200 at around six thirty pm, hours after she left her 0:24:19.201 --> 0:24:23.001 son's game, she was in downtown La, walking in an 0:24:23.001 --> 0:24:26.321 alley between eleventh and twelve streets. This is the little 0:24:26.361 --> 0:24:29.201 alleyway that runs behind the Hope and Flower building where 0:24:29.201 --> 0:24:32.561 the dog was found. She appeared to be wearing the 0:24:32.601 --> 0:24:35.641