The 28th floor mystery of mom Heidi Planck who vanished into thin air: A chilling last sighting and a dog found alone... what was really happening at a luxury tower

The video lasts only seconds: Heidi Planck, a petite blonde, strolls through a California neighborhood with her Labradoodle beside her.

Nothing appears unusual, until you realize you are witnessing her final known moments.

On an otherwise ordinary October evening in 2021, at around 6.30pm, surveillance video captured the mother-of-one walking her pooch, Seven, through an alley behind Hope + Flower apartment complex in downtown LA.

The two-tower luxury building sits in the heart of the city's entertainment district, where apartments rent from nearly $3,000-a-month to more than $8,000 for furnished two-bedroom units.

Just hours earlier, Planck was cheering from the sidelines at her son’s flag football game alongside her ex-husband Jim Wayne and Seven.

But at halftime, around 4.30pm, she abruptly left the game, got into her Range Rover and drove away without warning, goodbye, or explanation. 

Seven was found wandering alone on the 28th floor of Hope + Flower just 30 minutes after Planck was last captured on security camera, with no clear explanation for how he got inside. 

By the end of the day, Planck had vanished without a trace, leaving behind one of the most bizarre missing-person mysteries in recent Los Angeles history.

'I don't really understand why she would have left the game in a hurry like that, because she was all about being a mother,' Trey Hawkins, Planck's cousin, told the Daily Mail. 'There had to be a reason.'

'She was making plans to do things. I don't think she just took off or anything like that. But I also feel that she might have known she was in a bad situation.' 

Now troubling questions are emerging about what lay beneath her polished image, with perhaps the biggest mystery being what was really happening on the 28th floor of the luxury building where her dog was found.

A shocking lawsuit obtained by the Daily Mail paints a disturbing picture of what was allegedly unfolding inside Hope + Flower, a mixed-use development owned and operated by the Onni Group. 

The filing includes allegations of illegal gambling, drug-fueled parties, cover-ups and a filmed incident in which a man was allegedly dangled from a balcony during what the plaintiff speculated was a 'drug deal gone bad.'

According to the lawsuit, Planck died after 'encountering a fentanyl laced item' before her body was 'thrown down the trash chute after unsuccessful resuscitation attempts.' 

'Apparently, the detective on the case said they found enough biological evidence to determine she's not alive. It's still very unclear,' Hawkins said.

A weeks-long LAPD search of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill - about 50 minutes drive from Hope + Flower - turned up nothing, with the reason for the operation remaining murky. 

'I believe the reason they searched that landfill is because that is where the garbage from Hope + Flower went,' Hawkins said.

'From my understanding, there were a lot of people that lived at the hotel at that time. They were saying there was a really, really bad smell coming from the garbage chute,' he added.

'I've heard other stories where people said that they saw people putting something rather large and bulky down the chute. There were rumors that she got stuck in there. There were all kinds of rumors.' 

Police said forensic evidence from inside the apartment building led them to the landfill, and also led them to believe an incident inside the complex resulted in her death. 

The case of 39-year-old Planck came to a legal end in 2023 when a judge ruled she died the night she vanished.

But unanswered questions continue to haunt both investigators and the public. 

'I don't think they will ever find her body, and I don't think that we will ever get a true answer of what happened to her,' Hawkins said.

In 2022, a year after the landfill search, Hope + Flower was drawn into a lawsuit filed by Brittany Stillwell in the US District Court for the Central District of California. 

Stillwell, a former resident, brought claims of racism, discrimination, retaliation, harassment, overcharging and unlawful eviction, among others. 

She took legal action from Shanghai, China, after the lawsuit claimed she was 'forced to flee her home for safety reasons' due to alleged 'ongoing threats, harassment and intimidation.'

'Due to the imminent nature of harassment, threats, and intimidation against Stillwell, she was forced to flee with just a few suitcases, leaving behind all belongings,' the filing states. 

The case was dismissed in 2024 by US District Judge John Holcomb. Stillwell filed an appeal which was denied in April, according to court records. 

A memorandum from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that the district court properly dismissed Stillwell’s action because, despite two opportunities to amend, Stillwell’s operative complaint failed to contain 'a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief' and that the complaint was 'verbose, confusing and conclusory.'

It added: 'We reject as meritless Stillwell’s contention that the district court violated her due process rights.'

In an email to the Daily Mail, Stillwell said she intends to continue pursuing the case and hopes there will be justice for Planck and herself.

She wrote: 'The dismissal and denied appeal were disheartening. My suit wasn’t dismissed because I couldn’t prove my claims - it was dismissed because I was out-lawyered and too verbose in stating them.

'If my petition for rehearing is denied, I’ll likely be facing hundreds of thousands in legal fees,' she added.

'It feels unfair that pursuing justice might leave me in a worse financial position than when I started. But if that’s the cost of telling my side, so be it.'

The Daily Mail has also reached out to Holcomb for further comment.

What was really happening on the 28th floor 

In the 2022 lawsuit, Stillwell - a resident of the 28th floor - alleged she did not learn about Planck’s disappearance until about a week later, particularly after witnessing something disturbing. 

She alleged she saw what she believed was 'Planck’s body being pulled from the trash chute after becoming stuck' between the 29th and 28th floors of Hope Tower. 

Stillwell said she raised her concerns with Onni and asked for permission to install a Ring camera, noting there were no hallway cameras on her floor, according to the lawsuit.

Instead, she said the company threatened to terminate her lease if she mounted one and brushed off concerns about Planck, allegedly suggesting she had simply seen 'influencers filming a Halloween-themed skit,' she alleged.

Stillwell complained about the building's crime and safety in November 2021, 'including Onni's lack of cooperation with LAPD with the Heidi Planck investigation,' according to court documents.

The lawsuit claims that web sleuths called for residents of the 28th floor to be questioned following Planck's disappearance and 'falsely alleged that residents were withholding information.'

During this time, and amid growing attention surrounding the case, Stillwell alleged that strangers began roaming the 28th floor claiming to be 'investigating' Planck’s disappearance.

'Tenants, including Stillwell, that witnessed or complained about Planck’s death were harassed, threatened and faced unlawful detainer eviction lawsuits out of retaliation,' the filing reads. 

Stillwell also claimed that Onni offered to honor her lease in exchange for removing her Yelp review about Planck’s death and alleged criminal activity taking place inside the tower.

The lawsuit stated: ‘Onni Group uses threats of intimidation and violence to silence opponents and victims.'

One Yelp image included in the court filing appears to show people gathered around bags of what appeared to be cannabis, as it is alleged several units on the 28th floor doubled as marijuana dispensaries. 

Brandon, author of a Yelp review quoted in the court filing, wrote: 'Some units are dispensaries. Which is convenient if we didn't have guns being fired all the time.'

He was among several residents who raised concerns about firearms. In a 2020 Yelp post, he also claimed there had been two separate 'gun incidents' inside the building, according to the filing. 

'Management has acknowledged one via email but provided no details other than a "gun went off,"' Brandon wrote. 'All we know is that a gun was fired and it traveled through a wall.'

According to the filing, there were at least two shootings, along with multiple break-ins and robberies during 2020. Stillwell also alleged that a resident told her she was 'sitting in her bathtub when bullets came through her walls.'

The Daily Mail has reached out to both Onni and Hope + Flower for comment. 

The alleged 'Meth Lab'

Referred to in court documents as the 'Meth Lab,' one unit on the 28th floor was allegedly guarded by armed men wearing all-white hazmat suits.

'The guards routinely prevent residents from using both stairwells on the 28th floor whenever the stairs are being used to transport items to and from the Meth Lab,' the lawsuit stated.

Drugs were allegedly distributed during 'illegal gambling parties' held inside Penthouse 4002, with Stillwell's lawsuit alleging the operation on the 28th floor has been active since 2021, including alleged fentanyl production. 

Included in the filing is an image that shows boxes stacked in a hallway. The lawsuit alleges that these boxes contained manufacturing chemicals.

The lawsuit alleges the boxes, allegedly containing N-Phenyl-4-piperidinamine, or Phenyl-4 - a fentanyl precursor - were shipped from China to a business registered to a 28th-floor apartment at Hope Tower. 

Stillwell alleged that in November 2022, two armed men with a dog chased her from the 28th floor down to the 26th.

Less than a month later, according to the lawsuit, emergency alarms were triggered after a small fire broke out inside the 'lab.' Stillwell alleged that her security cameras showed guards blocking residents from using the stairs.

The lawsuit further alleged that the towers functioned as a hub for distributing illegal goods - including fake Canadian passports, firearms, cocaine, fentanyl, marijuana and methamphetamine sold as black-market Adderall - from 2020 until the complaint was filed.  

Illegal gambling ring allegations

Just last year, it was reported that associates of several men indicted in a San Fernando Valley gambling ring were suspected of running an illegal poker room at Hope + Flower, just months after Planck’s disappearance. 

In the San Fernando Valley ring, players commonly won or lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single night, with most events carrying a $15,000 buy-in, according to court documents obtained by NBCLA. 

Search warrants from 2022 alleged that the operations were run by members or associates of Israeli and Russian organized crime families, who are said to control multiple illegal gambling spots in the city. 

'They are known for engaging in murder, car bombings, and extortion rackets throughout the world as a tool for intimidation and control,' one investigator wrote, according to the outlet. 

According to NBCLA, sources close to the investigation said Planck may have met with one or more individuals at the game, or possibly visited the apartment where it was being held before vanishing.

Law enforcement sources of the outlet said multiple people at the building that day likely know more about Planck’s disappearance but have refused to cooperate, possibly due to other illegal activity.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department for comment. 

Clinging to life after 'drug deal gone bad' 

Stillwell was jolted awake by desperate screams for help just after 3.30am in February 2021, according to the lawsuit. 

She said that when she went to her balcony, she 'witnessed what she believed to be a person being thrown off a balcony in the Hope Tower.'

‘Upon information and belief, the incident occurred in an apartment that was leased as a short-term rental under Level Hotel and transpired after a "drug deal went bad,"' the court filing reads.

Stillwell said she followed up with Onni hours later, where she claimed a property manager 'laughed' off the allegation and told her she was 'hallucinating' because the incident 'simply did not happen.'

In chilling footage that was linked to in Stillwell's lawsuit, a man can be seen dangling from the edge of a balcony, frantically waving his arms as he desperately tries - and fails - to pull himself back up. 

Firework explosions & intimidation allegations

Stillwell's lawsuit alleged that during Fourth of July celebrations in 2021, residents and visitors set off illegal fireworks from a parking lot near Hope Tower that came 'dangerously close' to her unit.

In footage included in the lawsuit, her dining room and office are suddenly flooded with what she claimed was light illuminating from the blasts outside.

She said the fireworks and pyrotechnics 'looked and sounded like explosions,' and claimed in court filings that she was injured after one was shot into the tower. 

For more than three hours, she claimed she was exposed to constant flickering lights and 'extremely loud bursts' of sound, with Onni allegedly only pushing back against her concerns once again. 

A high-rise window shattered after a blast, according to court documents, sending glass and debris onto the street below and onto Stillwell’s balcony. A resident later described the scene as a 'war zone.'

With each complaint she made, Stillwell claimed the intimidation continued.

In 2022, an oversized teddy bear mysteriously appeared right outside her apartment and was moved to different positions each day, according to the lawsuit.

After days, 'the Onni employee placed the oversized stuffed animal in front of the trash chute on Stillwell’s floor to frame Stillwell for improperly disposing of her trash.'

Chilling Yelp reviews & allegations of fake maintenance workers

During the time of Planck’s disappearance, Hope + Flower reportedly held a 4.0-star rating on Yelp, which Stillwell's lawsuit alleged was 'achieved through misrepresentation.'

The lawsuit claimed that residents used Yelp to flag suspicious activity. Several unsettling reviews included in the filing referenced Planck and the complex’s alleged disregard for residents’ mounting fears. 

In December 2021, Ev A wrote: 'MOST IMPORTANTLY - in the last month I was living there a local woman, Heidi Planck, was murdered 18 floors above me and they've done nothing but try to cover it up.'

'There are missing person posters now surrounding the building and it's absolutely creepy,' she added. 'It's simply not safe here.'

Jennique, who described the complex as a 'nightmare,' wrote on Yelp: 'BEWARE do NOT move here!! My friend was robbed at gunpoint and a lady went missing here.'

'It's been all over the news but no one in management ever tells the residents what's going on. This building is NOT secure and it is NOT safe!'

A user identified in the lawsuit as KS wrote on Yelp: 'There are units that are party houses and bring in all sorts of criminal activity into the building. Guns have been fired and people have been robbed mid day.'

Stillwell's lawsuit also claimed that Onni sent a man posing as a maintenance worker in 2022 who tried to change her locks and prevent her from re-entering her apartment.

She said he later returned that same night in 'street clothes' and again attempted to gain access.

Friends in high places

Planck’s relationships with elite figures in LA also came into the spotlight at the time of her disappearance, including her work as an accountant for finance figure Jason Sugarman.

She worked as a financial controller for Camden Capital Partners, where Sugarman was the managing partner.

Sugarman was also under civil Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) scrutiny over a $43 million bond fraud scheme involving an Indian tribe. 

In 2023, without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, Sugarman consented to entry of judgement in the SEC's civil enforcement action against him, which ordered him to pay $10 million in disgorgement, interest and penalties. 

Hawkins claimed Planck was introduced to Sugarman - the son-in-law of Hollywood mogul Peter Guber - by Wayne, and that she worked as their nanny before becoming an assistant.

Planck was also reportedly dating Na’eem Salaam, a vice president at Mark Zuckerberg’s philanthropic organization, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Even her ex-husband owned a high-end Beverly Hills salon serving some of California’s top celebrities. 

'The reach is just huge - the money, the amount of power,' Hawkins said. 'These are the big hitters, you know, they're friends with Hunter Biden, his name even came up.' 

Hawkins, in an effort to learn more, reached out to a woman named Maureen, who has been working as a private investigator into the case for several years.

He said that at one point, she 'came across a photo of Heidi at an Oscars party with Ghislaine Maxwell.'

Such photo, if it does exist, has never been made public. However a blog post by socialite Dori Cooperman showed photos from a 2012 Oscars afterparty, identifying Sugarman partying with Maxwell at Jeff Klein’s Sunset Tower restaurant. Planck was not in the photo. The Daily Mail reached out to Cooperman.

Wayne had previously told the Daily Mail that he believes 'the answer to Heidi's whereabouts lies with her boss Sugarman and his company.'

'Heidi knows all of Jason's and the company's secrets. She knows where the bones are buried,' he said. 

Sugarman was captured on her porch camera delivering muffins just two days after Planck's disappearance - and after Wayne had already told him she was missing. 

He further claimed that his ex-wife's boss 'didn't appear to be too concerned that she had gone missing.'

Instead, he said Sugarman seemed more interested in making sure that her work computer was returned.

'While I was on the phone with his assistant, I heard Sugarman in the background barking at his assistant to tell me, "make sure he knows I want my laptop",' Wayne said.

'There was no concern at all from my ex-wife's employer,' he added. 'It's a multimillion-dollar company, they didn't offer to hire a private investigator or put up a reward. The only thing they really seemed concerned about was Heidi's computer.'

During a follow-up call from Sugarman's assistant, Wayne was allegedly told the laptop contained 'sensitive information,' though he had already turned it over to the FBI, according to news reports.

Besides seemingly partying with Maxwell on at least one occasion, Sugarman has also been linked to convicted white-collar criminal John Galanis, Hunter Biden and his former business partner Devon Archer. 

In December 2021, the Daily Mail revealed emails from Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop which showed that Sugarman worked on a multi-million-dollar deal with the former president's son and his Chinese business partners in 2015.

The emails showed Sugarman as a director and 'key shareholder' of Burnham Financial Group, which proposed a deal involving Hunter’s overseas partners through Bohai Harvest (BHR).

Hunter later sought to distance himself from Burnham after several executives were charged in a fraudulent bond scheme involving a Native American tribe. Sugarman, meanwhile, was never charged, as no criminal case was brought against him. 

The court found that the scheme swindled $43 million out of pension funds between 2014 and 2016, and left a Native American tribe $60 million in debt.

Hunter's longtime friend and former business partner Devon Archer was convicted for his involvement in the fraudulent bond scheme involving a Native American tribe.

Hunter and his lawyers sought to downplay his role, claiming Archer and others used his name in materials related to the scheme without his knowledge and that he cut ties once he learned of the issues. 

Hunter was never charged in connection with the bond scheme and Hunter's lawyer, George Mesires, said his client had nothing to do with his business partners' separate Native American bond scheme that was being run at the same time as the negotiations with the Chinese investors.

'The defendants invoked and used Hunter's name - without his knowledge - to lend their business venture more credibility,' Mesires said.

'As soon as Hunter learned of the illegal conduct, and that his name was being used in this unauthorized and inappropriate manner, Hunter took immediate steps to ensure that his business interests would not be associated with the Burnham Group or with any of the defendants.'   

Emails from Hunter's laptop revealed that the former president's son worked closely with both Archer and Sugarman on the different 'major deal' at the time.

In a January 2015 email Archer forwarded to Hunter, he introduced Sugarman to Hunter's Chinese partner Jonathan Li and arranged a meeting at the BHR offices in Beijing. 

'You are both close friends of mine and partners in my core holdings and initiatives moving forward,' Archer wrote.

The Daily Mail has reached out to Sugarman for comment.

Police returned to Planck's townhouse multiple times, including on October 29, 2021, when they entered with guns drawn. The reason for the operation remains unclear, and nothing suspicious was found inside.

Wayne appeared frequently on television pleading for answers, while reports described the pair as healthy co-parents. Hawkins, however, called those claims 'full of crap.'  

'They ended up going through a really rough divorce,' Hawkins told the Daily Mail.

Though no longer as close as they once were, he said it was quietly understood among some family members that while Wayne sought full custody, the split became 'really ugly.'

'They were not good co-parents,' he added. 'He is full of crap.'

The Daily Mail has reached out to Wayne for comment. 

Child custody documents obtained by the Daily Mail in 2021 revealed that Planck allegedly struggled with drug use, psychotic episodes and erratic behavior.

During a 2015 custody battle, Wayne claimed she trashed their young son’s room and climbed across nearby rooftops semi-naked.

He also accused her of doctor-shopping for Adderall prescriptions and concealing the alleged abuse by paying cash, according to the custody filing.

Meanwhile, Hawkins said that while she struggled with depression, ADHD and addiction, she had since turned a corner. 

Still, he said it felt as though she sensed something was coming, claiming she had begun 'reaching out to people she hadn’t talked to.'

Hawkins, 50, said he was close with Planck in childhood as they grew up together but they grew more distant after she left New York for college in California.

'To my knowledge, she had cleaned up, was on the straight and narrow and doing everything that she had to do because she didn't want to lose custody of her son,' he said. 

'I believe that my aunt spoke to her just days before she went missing, and said that at that point everything seemed fine. They were talking about her coming home for the holidays.' 

Hawkins said he fears her family may never know what truly happened to her.

'She was a good person, you know, she shouldn't have been thrown out like trash and she shouldn't just be disregarded, which I feel like is what's happening.'