Missing woman's SUV found with busted window
GRESHAM, Ore. - A 21-year-old Gresham woman has disappeared under what police have labeled 'suspicious' circumstances.
Whitney Heichel did not show up to work Tuesday morning and her vehicle, a black 1999 Ford Explorer (pictured in the photo gallery), was later found abandoned in the parking lot of the Wood Village WalMart at 23500 N.E. Sandy Boulevard.
The vehicle's window was shattered and it appeared as if someone had rummaged around inside.
Gresham police are looking for leads in the case. At this point, investigators do not know if Heichel left of her own accord and is simply unaccounted for, or if she was a victim of foul play.
Police are asking anyone who might have seen Heichel (who is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs 120 pounds) or her vehicle (further described as having tinted tail lights and Oregon license plate 189 EJZ) to call the Gresham Police Tip Line at (503) 618-2719.
The following is a timeline from Tuesday that detectives have put together:
- 6:45 a.m. - Heichel left her apartment in the 700 block of Southeast Highway 26. She was headed to work at the Starbucks in East Gresham near Powell and Burnside, which is just five minutes away from her home.
- 7 a.m. - Heichel was supposed to be at work by this time but never showed up.
- 9:56 a.m. - Heichel's husband called 9-1-1 to report her missing.
- 12:30 p.m. - Friends and family reported that Heichel's ATM card was used at a gas station at Southeast 257th and Stark. Detectives verified that was correct and that her vehicle was at the gas station at 9:14 a.m.
- 1 p.m. - Family and friends begin distributing flyers and discover Heichel's vehicle at the WalMart in Wood Village at 23500 N.E. Sandy Blvd. The vehicle's passenger side window had been broken out.
I live 10 minutes from Larch, and Larch is a big area. I'm hoping if she's up there somewhere that someone will spot her, especially since it's hunting season. I'll keep a look out. It's always scary to know that where I live there is SO many places to hide bodies. I've heard they're doing logging up there currently. Maybe a logger might spot something...
I pray for your safe return.
i believe she is still in town she live by burnside and they found her car my sandy if anything shes in vancouver or portlandÂ
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What a beautiful young lady. Â Holding space for a positive outcome. Â Blessings.
The husband seemed a little to calm if you ask me. My gut tells me he is involved. But I sure hope I'm wrong.
 @Beergod i know right the person must of know alot about her for her to go missing in less than 15 minutes while on her way to work
 @Beergod KATU you're going to delete my comment proposing this user's gut may be full of beer but you're not going to delete all of the comments on here proposing the husband had something to do with this woman's disappearance? wow
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 @SelfPossessed I wish.
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Don't feed the trolls; just flag their posts as offensive if you're offended. Just keep in mind this the internet - anonymity allows people to say things they would never say in person, not neccessarily a bad thing. Hope she turns up OK.
This story is very disturbing. After reading the update, I'm very scared for her!
So she should be at work at 7AM, very punctual, but its 9:56AM before someone is called so they can call 911?
You can be in Seattle by then. Â Something doesn't add up up unless Starbucks doesn't care or it was planned.
 @RandyH Not just that, but she lived 5 minutes from work. How does one go from heading to work, to buying gas in wood village 2 hours after you were to be at work? The 911 call was also placed but 45 minutes after she was seen at the gas station. There is a connection there that the police are not seeing. Why else would her husband be smiling in the photo of the police comforting him?
 @Anthony Bland  @RandyH People like you that have one fact out of 100 are so obnoxious. Why should I waste my time telling you that Starbucks called the husband at 8am or so, and after that he was with family looking for her and calling local hospitals, when you are so determined to use all your erroneous facts for an asinine assumption?
 @Anthony Bland  @RandyH You must be right. There is a connection you see, with only a fraction of the info that the police have, that they are missing.
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People can be late to work and generally it is okay for some employers. That doesn't mean they don't care or that it was planned. You should be spending time trying to find this girl, not worry about her work and what their practices are.Â
God be with the family and may he be with her and bring her home. I will be praying for all.
So, I do know that tonights church service where she attends was canceled so everyone could go out and search for her. Have there been any updates or leads generated from that?
The comments on these news sites are a good reminder of how cold and uncaring some people can be. I hope this young lady is found safe and sound.
on shing dao - what an evil person you are!! Family and friends of this young girl are very concerned about her safety and well being, and you offer up a stupid comment. You are the reason I am very converned about this Country. and YOU will be the first person I would look at to try and figure out what happened to her! My prayers are with her family and friends right now, and YOU can go to H#@$!!!!
"concerned"
Wow some of these comments are appalling...to all of you jackasses posting rude stuff on here just think if this was Your family member or friend...she may not mean anything to you but she sure as hell means something to me and a ton of other people so it'd be great if you deleted that crap you just posted!! To the rest of you posting nice thoughts I thank you very much!
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my friends live right above whitney and we are all praying for her safe return...our thoughts and prayers go to her family also.
Some of the posts here need to be cleaned up. It doesn't matter if she's cute, white, black, or what ever color. The fact is she is missing and her family is probably going through a really rough time. Please respect that and post clean respectful things.Â
 @Jeff R Halvorsen I agree with you.People need to respect other people more
Praying for her safe return from Hawai'i Ps:83:18
I mean - I'm in Hawai'i - sorry for it sounding loopy.
When someone goes missing like this you all might want to think about what your saying before you post it and be respectful that her family and friends might also be reading these comments and are very worried about her!! I personally have friends who know this young woman and this is very unusual of her to just go missing like this so please be respectful and just hope and pray that she is found safe and unharmed!!
 @twardell Amen!!!!
 @twardell Well said.
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 @on shing dao Yes you most surely should be ashamed!
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 @occupyH8R You wouldn't be so sad if it was an occupy protestor. Heck, I wouldn't be sad either.
Let us hope that she is found quickly in good condition. Hopefully she went somewhere on her own. Keeping positive thoughts for her safe return to her family.
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I've tried to report a person missing but was told I had to wait 48 hours before the police would even respond to the address.
Whitney has been missing since early this morning. Please, please, everyone look for her. She  could be hurt and scared somewhere. Our prayers are with her husband Clinton and her family.
Pretty eyes and a lovely smile... Â Wherever she went, I hope she went there of her own accord and that she's all right... also hope that she will at least let the people who love her know that she's OK... Â
missing cute white girl. Â Here come the national news vans!
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Hope she's alright and that there's a reasonable explanation for her disappearance that isn't a violent one.
 @Scorcho she isn't that cute.
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 @on shing dao  @Scorcho Shut up. Just shut up. You are sick and obviously perversely get hard making grieving or frightened families and friends more traumatized with your verbal abuse and also nastily blaming victims. Hope K2 blocks your trolling soon.
 @on shing dao  @whirledworld Well "on shing dao" we can tell you don't care so just give it a rest and let those of us that do care do what needs to be done to find this girl.Â
 @whirledworld Ya like you really care.
 @Scorcho You mean the opposite..right? The media doesn't care about missing white people. They care about making headlines. White person murdering a black person is news not this. I'm not trying to be a jackass or anything it's completely factual. Treyvon Martin was all over the air waves and people screamed racism played part. They even labeled the guy white when he is clearly mixed ethnically. What people don't know is there was a brutal murder of 2 young white people http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Channon_Christian_and_Christopher_Newsom. And it didn't make the headlines like Trayvons case did. It's sad and pathetic how the media works but its the truth.Â
 @Jeff R Halvorsen What about when Nathan Thomas was murdered by the police?
 @Jeff R Halvorsen  @Scorcho The media is a bunch of pinko libs including KATU
 @Jim330rifle  @Jeff R Halvorsen  @Scorcho Pinko libs? Really? You haven't been able to come up with an original epithet since 1959? Where have you been?
It made headlines here.
I hope this story is followed up with one of those "whew ... she has been found safe." stories.