Whitney Heichel Suspect Arrested, Friends and Family Shocked

By: Bill Waters, NewsOXY Reporter
10/22/2012 02:00 PM ET

Whitney Heichel went missing last week, but her remains were discovered on a isolated, forested, mountain leaving her friends and family in shock. Heichel had been missing since Tuesday, when she left her apartment to go to work at Starbucks, but never made it there.

Jonathan Holt, 24, who lives in her apartment complex was arrested on Saturday in connection with her death. However, it has not been reported what evidence led to his arrest.

He was arrested around the same time Heichel's body was found on Larch Mountain, east of Gresham.

Huff Post reports Heichel reportedly left her apartment Tuesday morning for her job as a Starbucks barista. She never showed up, and three hours later, her husband, Clint, called police. He told investigators he tried to reach Whitney multiple times after her boss alerted him that she never arrived for her 7 a.m. shift.

At 9:14 a.m. on Tuesday, Heichel's ATM card was used for a purchase at Troutdale gas station. Her family and friends discovered her sport utility two hours later, in a Wal-Mart parking lot with its passenger window smashed.

"The family's search team had discovered a license plate and other "items of interest" on Larch Mountain," police Chief Craig Junginger said. They discovered her body there on Friday night.

Jim Vaughn, a family spokesman, thanked police for their commitment in the case.

"Whitney was a very loving person," he said Friday. "She was warm, she was kind, she was everything you would want in a friend, relative, spiritual fellow worshipper."