Whitney Heichel Missing: Oregon Woman's Car Found, Disappearance 'Suspicious'

An Oregon woman has been reported missing after her abandoned car -- a window smashed out -- was found in what police are calling suspicious circumstances.

Whitney Heichel

Whitney Heichel, 21, was last seen at 6:45 a.m. on Tuesday at her Gresham apartment on October 17, leaving for her shift at a Starbucks just two minutes away from her home, KATU reports.

Her husband, Clint Heichel, told the station nothing seemed suspicious until he received a phone call at around 8:15 a.m., asking if his wife was sick. She had not shown up for work that morning. At around 10 a.m., Clint Heichel called police to report that his wife was missing.

According to a flyeron the "Find Whitney Heichel" Facebook page, the woman's debit card was used that morning at several ATMs and three different gas stations. Clint Heichel said two of those transactions, both of which were gas purchases, occurred just eight minutes apart, one at 9:22 a.m. and another at 9:30 a.m.

One gas station attendant reported seeing the SUV with Whitney Heichel in the passenger seat and an unidentified man behind the wheel, according to the flier. The man reportedly "was acting suspicious and hurried, buying only a small amount of gas."

Surveillance video shows Whitney Heichel's SUV at one of the stations, KPTV reports, but the grainy image prevents investigators from determining who was driving.

At around 1 p.m., friends located the SUV in the back corner of a Walmart parking lot about 5 miles away from her home. "The passenger side window was busted out, the backseats were down, there was mud on her tires," Clint Heichel told KPTV, noting that the tires had not been muddy the night before.

He describes his wife as sweet and dependable, according to KATU.

"She's beautiful, and she's a little ball of energy and full of life," he said.

Whitney Heichel is described as 5'2", 120 pounds. Her SUV is a black 1999 Ford Explorer with tinted taillights and Oregon license place 189 EJZ.

Anyone who has any information on her, or who may have seen her vehicle before it was recovered, is asked to call the Gresham police tip line 503-618-2719 or 1-888-989-3505.