FL FL - Heidi Ann Zampell, 22, Naples, 18 June 1987

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Gardener1850

Gardener1850

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[h=1]Heidi Ann Zampell[/h]
  • heidi_ann_zampell_1.jpg
Zampell, circa 1987



  • Missing Since 06/18/1987
  • Missing From Naples, Florida
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Date of Birth 11/01/1964 (53)
  • Age 22 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'2, 105 - 110 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A maroon flower-printed shirt, a skirt and black shoes.
  • Medical Conditions Zampell has a hearing impairment and wears hearing aids in both of her ears.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Zampell has an eight-inch scar on her lower abdomen. She has prominent collarbones. Zampell is slightly hunchbacked. Some agencies spell her first name "Hidi."


[h=3]Details of Disappearance[/h] Zampell was employed at Bathtique at the Coastland Mall in Naples, Florida in 1987. She finished her work shift at 5:00 p.m. on June 18, 1987 and asked a friend to drive her to Golden Gate, Florida. Zampell's friend told authorities that she wanted to visit Arthur Sims's residence at Golden Gate Estates. Zampell reportedly refused to explain her reasons for the visit. Sims was a minister at the Naples Independent Bible Church at the time.

Zampell's friend stated that she was dropped off at Sims's home and was last seen walking up his driveway. She has never been heard from again. Sims told investigators that Zampell was not a member of his church and she did not visit his residence.

Authorities believe that Zampell may have been taken against her will. She does not have a history of leaving without warning, she had no current passport, and she left behind all her clothes as well as her last paycheck. Her case remains unsolved.

http://charleyproject.org/case/heidi-ann-zampell

Dental information / charting is available and entered

DNA Status: Sample is currently not available

Fingerprint information is currently not available

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/20201/
 
The Zampell's are a large family in Massachusetts, including a branch that owns and manages the very successful Zampell property management and building operation. It would be interesting to know which part of the family Heidi belonged to. It is surprising that, with such a large extended family, that there is so little out there about her disappearance. If she was a member of the Zampell industries branch it is even more surprising. Unfortunately there is nothing on Ancestry to assist and I cannot find her parentage elsewhere.
 
She is also listed as attending Naples High School. News articles list her parents as Deborah and Paul Zampell, also of Naples, FL. To me, the key to her disappearance lies either with the friend that dropped her off (Jim Helle) or someone in the household of the minister, Arthur T. Sims. Helle stated that Heidi was walking up the driveway to the house when he left. It seems like an oddly specific location for her friend to make up. I was curious why he didn't wait to see her enter the house, but an article says (and Zillow/Google Street View show) that the house sets quite far back from the road. There is a poured concrete patio, and the property is currently surrounded by trees and underbrush. The driveway itself is just dirt. Honestly, the photos make me wonder why he didn't pull into the driveway. The minister and his wife appear to have sold the property in 1993.

ISh7tan1zk899s0000000000.jpg


The article mentions they interviewed all of her family and friends, including a boyfriend stationed with the Army in West Germany. She did not have a valid drivers license at the time of her disappearance (suspended after failing to pay a ticket) and did not have a passport. I wonder if she told her friend that she wanted to see this specific minister, or if she just told him where to go? Her wanting to see this minister (if in fact she did) makes me feel like either she wanted to confront or speak to him (or again, someone in his household) about something or at least talk to a minister about something weighing on her mind.

Her mother stated that Heidi was living with a friend in Lely Estates at the time of her disappearance, so Heidi was not reported missing until she didn't come to her parents' house for Father's Day, which was on June 21 in 1987. So, she got off work at 5 PM on June 18 (Thursday), was taken by her friend to Golden Gate (currently a 21 min drive), arriving between 5:30 and 6 PM. She was then not reported missing for three days, until Sunday. I wonder what her roommate made of her being gone for three nights?

Heidi Zampell Naples High School - Newspapers.com
Heidi Zampell 7/31/87 (1/2) - Newspapers.com
Heidi Zampell 7/31/87 (2/2) - Newspapers.com
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1410-17th-St-SW-Naples-FL-34117/43764052_zpid/
Heidi Zampell 8/1/87 - Newspapers.com
 
Interesting that the friend, Jame P Helle (alias James P Hanifen) would use a pastor as his alibi. The pastor lived in the country. How did James know where the pastor and his wife lived? Especially since the pastor states he didn’t know or see/meet Heidi. What connection is there between the pastor and James? Did James at one time attend the church, receive services from the church (food, housing), did the pastor minister to the homeless, or prison population, that he would have had contact with James? I think they need to get cadaver dogs out to that neighborhood.
 
james-p-helle_hanifen

PayrollNerd said:
Interesting that the friend, Jame P Helle (alias James P Hanifen) would use a pastor as his alibi. The pastor lived in the country. How did James know where the pastor and his wife lived? Especially since the pastor states he didn’t know or see/meet Heidi. What connection is there between the pastor and James? Did James at one time attend the church, receive services from the church (food, housing), did the pastor minister to the homeless, or prison population, that he would have had contact with James? I think they need to get cadaver dogs out to that neighborhood.
Click to expand...
Agreed-thank you for replying to this. I have more research to post. I am new here and struggling with how to do it. I have read the help, but I still am unsure.
 
Interesting case. I see little to point at the friend (James Helle) other than that he was the last to see her. Whilst he had run ins with the police none of it was violent, it was all minor things and he seems to have been a bit of a lost soul. He died in 1999. I see no issue with him being able to take Heidi to the pastor's address. There is an older James Helle still living in Naples who I think may be the father of the younger James Helle. His address is only in North Naples, no more than 4-5 miles from the pastors address. It is even possible that the Helles knew the pastor as the father is associated with the Christus Victor Lutheran Church, which is only a short distance from the Avalon Grace Church of Pastor Sims.
James Helle was almost exactly the same age as Heidi and went to Naples High School, like her - so I think it is safe to say they were friends going back to school days. Much of this information is traced through Ancestry (names/school/ages etc).

Of course, none of this means Helle did not know anything about her disappearance, but it does explain their relationship and his familiarity with the area (and possibly even the pastor).

As far as Pastor Sims is concerned, he retired in 2016 and seems to have led a pretty blameless life. So we seem to have two people, neither of whom is a strong candidate for suspicion.
 
There are currently at least two other people who would seem to go by that name in Naples, although they're about twenty years older than the one previously discussed. It's also possible that this person no longer is associated with Naples. We should use caution in sleuthing, as I'm not sure that this individual was ever named as a person of interest. So henceforth to be JH? He is listed as a Naples High School graduating senior in 1982, Heidi in 1983. I will say if you search Naples court records, this JH was continuously in trouble with the law from 1985 until the time of his death (theft, probation violations, domestic violence, drug charges, etc.). Not a nice person for Heidi to be hanging around with.
 
Magz said:
Ronald Lee Hanifen, Jr (1969-1974) - Find A Grave...

The father of James Helle-Hanifen is Ronald L. Hanifen.

The older James Helle is NOT directly related if he is even related at all.
Click to expand...

Interesting but inconclusive. The clipping from James arrest in the early 90s (referred above) clearly states that he (legally) changed his name from Helle to Hanifen not long before the arrest. I am at a loss to understand why that would be necessary when his birth name was Hanifen. I think this needs some more digging (could it be something to do with divorces and remarriages - I do not know)? There is no doubt that he was using the name Helle when at Naples High School as he appears in the yearbook under that name several times.

The North Naples home address is, like that of James Helle, close to that of the pastor so familiarity with the area remains the case, as does his obviously long acquaintance with Heidi.

Another twist to look into!
 
It seems that Ronald Lee Hanifen married Carolyn Sue Helle in 1968. He was married twice and I assume this was his second marriage since he had children (including James P Hanifen) preceding this marriage. What is strange is that James P Hanifen seems to have used the previous name of his stepmother throughout his life (including at school). I can only think of two explanations;
  • that James P Hanifen was Ronald's son but born to Carolyn Helle prior to their marriage or
  • that Carolyn Helle brought a different James P to the marriage from a previous relationship
The only alternative is that James stayed with his stepmother after a marital separation and used her name - but, if so, why did he need to legally change back to Hanifen? I cannot find records to clarify the various options. It seems clear that Magz is correct on parentage, but there seems one big mystery over names.
 
alb1on said:
It seems that Ronald Lee Hanifen married Carolyn Sue Helle in 1968. He was married twice and I assume this was his second marriage since he had children (including James P Hanifen) preceding this marriage. What is strange is that James P Hanifen seems to have used the previous name of his stepmother throughout his life (including at school). I can only think of two explanations;
  • that James P Hanifen was Ronald's son but born to Carolyn Helle prior to their marriage or
  • that Carolyn Helle brought a different James P to the marriage from a previous relationship
The only alternative is that James stayed with his stepmother after a marital separation and used her name - but, if so, why did he need to legally change back to Hanifen? I cannot find records to clarify the various options. It seems clear that Magz is correct on parentage, but there seems one big mystery over names.
Click to expand...
Do you have a link to substantiate they were married in 1968? Do you have a link to substantiate Carolyn was his stepmother and not his mother? Do you have a link to substantiate the address of James Helle in North Naples?
 
Magz said:
Do you have a link to substantiate they were married in 1968? Do you have a link to substantiate Carolyn was his stepmother and not his mother? Do you have a link to substantiate the address of James Helle in North Naples?
Click to expand...

The marriage comes from a Florida Marriage Index record on Ancestry (Join Ancestry). I do not usually link to Ancestry as it may not show unless you have a subscription. With regard to mother or stepmother, this is an unknown. As I have pointed out the marriage is subsequent to the birth of various children to Ronald Hanifen. This can support a number of explanations including both that she is his mother and gave birth before the marriage or that she is his stepmother. One indicator may be that multiple family trees on Ancestry (that can easily be found with a simple search on the site) give Ronald Hanifen as marrying twice - suggesting (but not proving) that children prior to 1968 are from a first marriage. Ancestry trees can be unreliable in detail, even for relatively recent events such as these, which is why they can only support rather than prove conclusions. One obvious possibility being that Carolyn brought James to the marriage from a previous relationship, but that he is listed as the son of Ronald and Carolyn as he was seen as such. I do not know which of these multiple possibilities is correct. The Florida Index does include a column which may suggest it was a second marriage for Carolyn (again I am not sure) so I looked to see if I could find another marriage for her (James Helle Sr?) but could not do so.

In terms of the North Naples address for James Helle, this is easy. It is confirmed in multiple search sites such as Spokeo as being Cyprus Trace Circle, the location of which is clear on Google Maps.

Hope this helps. It is a confusing situation (although whether it has any relevance to the case I doubt).
 
Nancy Drew RN said:
There are currently at least two other people who would seem to go by that name in Naples, although they're about twenty years older than the one previously discussed. It's also possible that this person no longer is associated with Naples. We should use caution in sleuthing, as I'm not sure that this individual was ever named as a person of interest. So henceforth to be JH? He is listed as a Naples High School graduating senior in 1982, Heidi in 1983. I will say if you search Naples court records, this JH was continuously in trouble with the law from 1985 until the time of his death (theft, probation violations, domestic violence, drug charges, etc.). Not a nice person for Heidi to be hanging around with.
Click to expand...

I understand the concern but think we can safely use the name as both James Helle (b1964) and Ronald Hanifen (his presumed father) are dead, and records available on public sites (not blogs) clearly prove both a familial relationship and other facts (such as the common attendance at Naples High School). I picked up the Helle name from your earlier post at #6 which I assumed came from an MSM or other proper source? I agree that I should have avoided speculating on a father/son relationship with a living person, but think we have now moved onto the mystery of Hanifen and Helle, and the name switching - all of which can be sourced from approved sites. Thanks for the link to the court cases. He was clearly in persistent trouble but it seems to have been low level until after Heidi went missing. I am not sure what to make of it.
 
My understanding is that Jim Helle was publicly named as the person who dropped Heidi Zampell off but was never actually named as a person of interest in her disappearance. One of the mods may have more guidance on how much of his info we can post here.

At the time of Heidi's disappearance, he had already had contact with law enforcement for at least a couple of years. It they were friends, it makes me wonder if Heidi herself was at least around some less than legal activities or possibly more violent criminals.
 
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