GUILTY OR - Whitney Heichel, 21, Gresham, 16 Oct 2012 #2

[SDT]

I've been looking at Streetview images from the Starbucks where she works.
Looks like the Google Streetview car stopped in for some coffee - or got lost. :waitasec:
I'm not 100% sure, but this looks like her Explorer parked in the lot.
What do you people think?
And FWIW, it's not backed in.

http://goo.gl/maps/iYbzQ

I think this may be her car. I was able to stand next to the passenger's side window and clearly see beads hanging from her mirror. I also saw that this model is an XLT. Do we know if she was driving an XLT?

 

[krey]

BBM

I've been following this case from the very beginning and feel that LE is keeping
everything they know and have found/discovered, very close to the chest.

I'm even thinking they know or have an idea who the perp may be... but can't disclose to the public yet.

It may be a case where they don't want the perp to know that they suspect him/her yet, because they
need to get all the evidence they can before accusing him or arresting him.

Or they may know for sure who it is, but don't know where he is right now.

I just don't understand the whole "close to the vest" system. Let's say that they hypothetically know who the perp is... would it not be beneficial to put that info out there, in case someone can recall seeing him in a certain location, what his demeanor was, if he was with anyone, etc etc? Aren't they losing the opportunity to gain valuable information?

 

[LinasK]

I know this sounds extremely crazy but what if she threw it out the window knowing it had information about who could have been after her or someone she has been texting recently..yeh I know crazy....

Or more likely the suspect tossed it to keep Whitney from contacting her husband or anybody, kinda like in the Sierra LaMar case...

 

[Elainera]

What's more confusing to me though is how long it had been in the bushes? Because unless it just got deposited there, then it was out there and off the charger for quite some time.

And in the rain as well? Locals here said it's raining a lot - was it raining on Tue-Thu? Wouldn't rain have damaged the phone? And if so, and it wasn't damaged, wouldn't that mean it was placed there not Tuesday but later?

 

[LinasK]

Cell phone providers can probably turn an Iphone on remotely. When you phone turns off by itself due to a low battery, there is still 5-7% of battery life left. It's just bad for the battery to get down to 0%.

I don't think so.

 

[rosetattoo]

Playing it close to the vest can work if LE has some leads and is watching someone but don't want that person to know they're being watched. The could be hoping the perp will mess up, or lead them to a body or additional evidence.

 

[ellabella]

Why would she be charging her phone for a short 5 min drive to work?

Going to read back beecause I'm not sure where this discussion came from, but in our car we have a charger/transmitter combined so my husband automatically plugs in our phone to charge and listen to podcasts, music,etc through our stereo system, even for short drives.

We also both plug our phones in at night, every night i use mine as an alarm, he does not.

Also: if I have charged it the night before, it will last quite a while. And it is a blackbrry, but that is only if i stay in the city, and am not listening to music,etc. if i just use the nomal phone fuctions it will last a few days.

 

[krey]

I just don't understand the whole "close to the vest" system. Let's say that they hypothetically know who the perp is... would it not be beneficial to put that info out there, in case someone can recall seeing him in a certain location, what his demeanor was, if he was with anyone, etc etc? Aren't they losing the opportunity to gain valuable information?

ETA: I'm thinking in terms of her being alive. If she were already deceased, I could see not wanting to tip a suspect off. But if she's thought to be with someone, and thought to be alive, it seems there would be such a huge urgency to reach her that they would release what info they had to in order to gain information that might help find her.

Also, if they have a suspect (i.e. know who the perp is), and have been quiety going around to his family, coworkers, whatever, to try to find out if there were any relevant locations they should be looking... it seems like we would have heard of such by now. Someone would be saying, "LE came around questioning me about so-and-so....."

JMO

 

[laura08]

I just don't understand the whole "close to the vest" system. Let's say that they hypothetically know who the perp is... would it not be beneficial to put that info out there, in case someone can recall seeing him in a certain location, what his demeanor was, if he was with anyone, etc etc? Aren't they losing the opportunity to gain valuable information?

I've thought about that also they should have something from the cameras I assume and would be asking for help on locating the suspect a name or information to lead to the perp. I'm curious why they arent releasing that info also. But positive they are doing there best considering they have dealt with many missing person cases and each case is different. Maybe they do know who it is already and there is no need for video footage etc.

 

[ChandDuhMan]

And in the rain as well? Locals here said it's raining a lot - was it raining on Tue-Thu? Wouldn't rain have damaged the phone? And if so, and it wasn't damaged, wouldn't that mean it was placed there not Tuesday but later?

Wednesday and Thursday were actually quite nice, sunshine. Thursday late evening it started raining pretty hard, today it is overcast with little trickles here and there but nothing serious.

Time and time again I am impressed with the frailty and strength of cell phones vs water. Hers was found in bushes so maybe that gave some protection from rain? In the past I've had a drop of water completely ruin my phone, yet a buddy of mine spent about ten minutes in a hot tub with the phone in his pocket and after about an hour of hair dryer use, it worked just fine.

 

[cluciano63]

Is there another PC in 30 minutes?

If so, I hope LE has some new info; if not, may be time to release more info, if they have it. She has been missing three full days now.

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

Probably nothing, but I hate the wording of the call to her husband from her boss. It may just be badly relayed by her husband to the press, but it just sounds so awkward if it's what he actually said when he called looking for her " hey, I was just curious...did Whitney decide to be sick or not feeling well today?"
Curious? Decide to be sick? Idk, just bugs me somehow.

I am so behind in reading... But the wording of the SB boss was odd to me from the beginning....(if this is the specific words he used).....

(I.e. Did Whitney decide to be sick, etc.)

JMO

 

[krey]

I've thought about that also they should have something from the cameras I assume and would be asking for help on locating the suspect a name or information to lead to the perp. I'm curious why they arent releasing that info also. But positive they are doing there best considering they have dealt with many missing person cases and each case is different. Maybe they do know who it is already and there is no need for video footage etc.

Same here... I'm sure they're doing what they feel is the best thing. The angle I'm coming from is that I'm reading into what they are and aren't doing/saying, trying to gauge what they feel might have happened. Not questioning their techniques, but more trying to figure out the purpose behind them. KWIM? I guess there are 3 scenarios: 1) stranger abduction, 2) abduction by someone who knew her, or 3) she was willingly involved in the staging of a disappearance.

I know I seem hung up on #3. But again, I'm just getting that feeling based on what LE is and isn't saying to the public.

ETA: There's nothing else that leads me to think this was "staged" - nothing about Whitney herself, that I can tell, or about the circumstances with the car and the debit cards and such. My feeling is strictly based on LE's demeanor and what they're choosing to release and say and all that. Just to be clear

 

[sarx]

Seriously, what 21 year old is going to have a flip phone?

I know my 21 and 23 year old wouldn't even if it was just a loner.

Hope you're not thinking I think that, simply was stating that they've had that capability for a long time.

As to whomever said you can't post to FB with an old phone, not so. You can txt to update your status and it will show up "via mobile". It's a 32655 number or something like that, that you set up. I actually have it on my droid so when I don't have data coverage I can still do updates on FB.

 

[MoonFlwr]

ITA.....My 20 yr. old walked up as I was looking at Whitney's FB and she said..."aw, they look so in love, an adorable couple, who are they?"

She just looks plain Happy. Her posts, her photos, Happy is what I see. JMO.

Certainly looks joyful...and enthused about life!

 

[CaringCitizen]

TIMELINE

QUOTE FROM KGW NEWS

“On Thursday, Grandjean sketched out a timeline of the day Heichel disappeared. At 6:45 a.m, Heichel is believed to have left the Gresham apartment where she lives with her husband for her shift. Her drive to work should have taken just a few minutes”.

“When she didn't arrive, her manager tried reaching her on her cell phone. Then, the manager called Heichel's husband sometime after 8 a.m., although he did not know exactly when”.

Pings should show where that phone was when it received the call from Starbucks. Pings should also show where Whitney’s phone was all morning until it was turned off. It had to be turned off before it was tossed or else the girls who found it would have had to come up with a compatible charger. They didn’t mention needing to do that.

LE says they know Whitney’s vehicle was at Dodge Park and Larch Mountain (east of Gresham/Troutdale) prior to the next timestamp at the gas station.
Route from Starbucks (or could have been her house equally close by) to Dodge Park and then on to Larch Mountain (both places uncovered evidence that is currently mum) http://goo.gl/maps/51Hph

Note in the above route that it takes just 21 minutes (10 miles) to get to Dodge Park and then it takes another 41 minutes (19 miles) to get to Larch because you essentially have to go back to central Gresham/Trouydale and go back out another way.

Route from Larch Mountain to Gas Station to McMenamin’s/TroutdaleTerrace shared field area (where the phone was found) and on to Walmart http://goo.gl/maps/LHpZN

Notice how once you get back into the central area, points B (gas) to C (phone dump) to D (SUV Walmart) are all very close together.

Here is a close up of tracing where the phone was found to where the SUV was found. This is the Route from Phone-found to Walmart where SUV was parked at rear lot backed up to bushes. (Note the phone was found behind the TroutdaleTerrace Apartments facing the field; the map pointer is over to the left of this on a private looking road across the field at McMenamin’s to show a place you could be to dispose of phone sight unseen) http://goo.gl/maps/5OsVv


QUOTE FROM KGW NEWS

“Meanwhile, at 9:14 a.m., Heichel's ATM card was used at a gas station at Southeast Stark Street and Southwest 257th Avenue. Police have interviewed the gas station attendant but declined to release details and employees declined to comment.

Clint Heichel also tried reaching his wife multiple times and then reported her missing to police at 9:56 a.m, Grandjean said.

At 11:17 a.m., Heichel's vehicle was left at the Wood Village Wal-Mart, according to surveillance video reviewed later by police. The vehicle would be found in the afternoon by friends and community members searching for Heichel”.

SUMMARY TIMELINE

• 6:45am Left the house (alone or not; willingly or not)

• 7:00ish to 9:00ish am (SUV and/or Whitney and/or her phone) was east of Gresham/Troutdale at Larch and Dodge according to LE (didn’t say how known: is it gps on her SUV; is it ping from her phone; is it visual sighting of her; is it ping from perp’s phone)

8:00ish to 8:15ish am Starbucks called Clint on his cell phone​

Sometime after that Clint called Whitney’s parents (from where, no one has said)​

• 9:14am ATM card used at gas station (attendant uses card in the pump/no one goes inside)

Small amt of gas bought (this ensures attendant is quick and doesn’t go to other customers)​

Pumps work like RedBox (slide card, enter zip code, that’s it; atm cards work like credit cards in the pump but are a debit; no pin required but zip code is)​

No clear proof the attendant saw Whitney but if he did and she was in the car, she wasn’t afraid enough of the driver to bail out of the car in this public place of potential freedom​

Her phone ends up a mile away and her car just a couple more past that​

• 9:56am Clint calls police

• 11:17am SUV left at Walmart (someone suggested perp exited rear window; escaping walmart cameras)

If we knew how LE knew of the 11:17am time it would tell us a lot; this is a big piece of the puzzle they have that we don’t)​

• 1pm Friends/Family spot the SUV at Walmart

• 5-6ish PM Subsequent day, her phone is found by girls exploring in the field behind Troutdale Terrace Apartments and adjacent to McMenamin’s (others on the first thread said Whitney was familiar with that McMenamins). That field has a private road you could get away with being on for a while sight unseen (it appears from the map anyway).

Although it could have been, if it was a stranger, why would they need so badly to get back to the Gresham/Troutdale area? If you are going to Dodge and Larch why end up back in G/T and risk being seen? Why not ditch the car in a remote area since you have millions of deep woods acres to choose from? Why the need to be back in the central place of action so fast?

With the exception of the half hour drives out each way to Dodge and Larch, all of the other interest points are in a tight circle. The home to work to the gas station to the phone field to Walmart – all very close and familiar.

Don’t let the names fool you – if one address says Gresham and one says Troutdale and one says Wood Village – think of them as all the same because all of these apartments and businesses are close to one another. I lived in Gresham/Troutdale for 6 years before moving to Washington a few years ago (above Oregon). The Walmart in question is practically on the border of the two states. Oregon and Washington are separated at the north by the Columbia River which I-84 runs alongside.

I wonder if LE’s emphasis two days in a row on the stranger (or not) aspect, is due to the above information. A reporter asked this morning if LE still wanted to stick to his comment yesterday about strangers to which LE said this morning "Stranger on stranger crimes are still rare today". Here is a little more dialogue from this morning:

CURIOUS REPORTER

REPORTER: "Clint said on Tuesday that when he saw the surveillance video he saw somebody else in his wife's car. Why not release that video so that people can know…"

LE: "Well you're asking me to release video based on what you heard Clint say - what I'm telling you is that we aren't releasing the vid--- we haven't seen any video that would be useful to our investigation to release"

REPORTER: "Does that mean you haven't seen somebody else in her car"?

LE: "What it means is that we haven't - we're not going to release any video that is useful to our investigation"

REPORTER: "Are there any persons of interests identified"?

LE: "At this point there is no person of interest". (You have to watch him say it though - it seems to me there is a person - his pause and manor in his answer made me think they don't want the perp to know they are on to him)

The reporter then asked about his (LE's) comments the day before about stranger crime - to which LE replied -

LE: "Stranger on stranger crimes are still rare today".

REPORTER: "Clint had mentioned early on to us that Tuesday was his day off and so he went back to bed after Whitney left. Do you happen to know where he works? What he does for a living"?

LE: "I heard it mentioned - but I don't remember where he works. Again - that might be a question for Jim"

The above transcript is mine taken from a local TV station that I get on cable where I am so I don’t have the web link.
---

But I wondered if the reporter's interest was based on the press conference the day before.

Go to yesterday's presser:
http://www.kptv.com/story/19838032/gresham-woman-missing-police-consider-it-suspicious

Open it to full screen, start at 21:25 and do slo-mo when you get to 21:58 for the next 20 or 30 seconds.

EDIT: Someone just astutely pointed out that the video is gone. It is still there but they have hidden it. You have to look below the current top video and look at the gray box area. Then you need to slide over to the right like a video gallery. When you see the 24 minute video, that is the one I am referring to as yesterday's full presser.

You don't have to be in slow motion to see it or hear it. You can easily see it in normal mode too but it's helpful to slow it down upon replay. Only reporters in front could see this (family and LE were behind or to the side of the speaker; you can see Whitney's dad sitting down behind the podium). I noticed some other news outlet camera angles didn’t catch the presser scene this way. In some, you can’t see Whitney’s dad and mom grieving behind the podium because they are hidden. In the presser link above, you get a much better view of Whitney’s poor dad during this.

I think that presser is why the reporter asked his questions the way he did this morning to LE - regardless if any of it has merit or not - it made sense to ask those questions.

I hope we get some additional information about Whitney at the 5pm presser today.

She is without a car and without a phone and most likely without money. I wonder what all was found at Dodge and Larch - such as personal items or clothing or things from her vehicle. It is tragic to think of her so vulnerable out there. Kyron was never solved - I sure hope Whitney has a more favorable outcome than that case has had so far. So sad!

 

[EmmaliLucia]

So this is the first time I will be in the house when one of these is going on, is it on KATU, KOIN or KGW?

 

[JoCoKSEyes]

There is a complete lack of concern being expressed by LE that there is a dangerous predator out there. To me, stranger abduction can be excluded from consideration here. Can we determine, from what is known about the case, whether this looks carefully planned or if it looks like a crime of passion with a frantic cover up?

 

[andalso]

Just what do you mean by expert??? My husband works in the Cell Tower Division for AT&T, and even he can't tell if a cell phone pings if it is off...

I don't even know what I mean by cell phone expert! :waitasec:

But, you know how WS verifies people in certain fields? I was honestly wondering if they/we had anyone verified in the field of cell phone technology?

 

[cluciano63]

There is a complete lack of concern being expressed by LE that there is a dangerous predator out there. To me, stranger abduction can be excluded from consideration here. Can we determine, from what is known about the case, whether this looks carefully planned or if it looks like a crime of passion with a frantic cover up?

LE is not giving the impression of a maniac on the loose to me either. But even if Whitney was the target, that does not make this person less dangerous, if he has harmed her. I hope they will fill us in soon-if they know. I am getting such mixed signals from LE.