Heist is a light-hearted true crime documentary series on Netflix about three different heists pulled off by ordinary people. The first two episodes delve deep into the crimes committed by Heather Tallchief, featuring archival footage, interviews with her family and friends, re-enactments and Tallchief's side of the story, narrated word for word by an actor.
On October 1, 1993, Tallchief found herself behind the wheel in one of the largest armored truck robberies in Las Vegas history.
Under the instruction of her lover, convicted murderer and prison poet, Roberto Solis, Tallchief went to work as usual as a driver for Loomis, an armored security company responsible for transporting money to Las Vegas' casinos.
When her co-workers left Tallchief alone in the truck to organize dropping off the money, Tallchief drove straight out of the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino with $3.1 million and went on the run across the U.S. with Solis.
In 1994, eight months after the heist, Tallchief gave birth to their son and the family moved to Amsterdam.
She later separated from Solis, whose whereabouts are still unknown today, and remained in Amsterdam until September 2005 when she turned herself in to U.S. authorities.
She later pled guilty to one count of obtaining a false passport and to two counts of embezzlement. On March 30, 2006, she received a prison sentence of five years and was released in 2010.
Tallchief was also ordered to pay $2.9 million back to Loomis, the security company.
The whole case was told over just two episodes. Part one addresses the relationship of Tallchief and Solis and pulling off the heist itself, and part two follows their fall from grace and Tallchief's arrest after she turned herself in more than a decade after the heist was committed.
Two hours isn't really enough time to tell this stranger-than-fiction tale and there are inevitably details and events that were missed out from the small-screen adaptation. Here is everything you need to know.
Six Details Missed Out From Heather Tallchief's Heist
1. Heather Tallchief Left a Letter for Her Estranged Mother
Heist delves deep into Tallchief's backstory, exploring the big question of what led her to carry out the theft in the first place.
She had a troubled childhood. Her mother left the family when Tallchief was just a toddler and she was brought up by her father, who had problems with addiction, and her abusive stepmother.
Tallchief went searching for her birth mother in her late teens. She was also struggling with her own addiction, and unfortunately the pair never established a mother-daughter relationship.
When police raided the apartment of Tallchief and Solis after the heist, they came across a goodbye letter written by Tallchief to her mother.
In the letter, Tallchief told her mother not to worry because "we have never been true friends."
2. Heather Tallchief Made FBI History
Heist on Netflix made it very clear Tallchief and Solis were wanted fugitives, but it missed out on the fact that Tallchief holds a special place in FBI history.
In 1997, Tallchief held the position of No. 3 on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, making her the highest-ranked female criminal on the list since it began in 1950.
Tallchief also made it onto dedicated episodes of Unsolved Mysteries, Dateline and America's Most Wanted.
3. Heather Tallchief Was No Stranger to Guns
Alongside embezzlement, bank fraud, bank robbery and making false statements, Tallchief also faced charges of using a firearm in the commission and execution of a violent crime and for the interstate transportation of a firearm.
In episode two of Heist, Tallchief recalls Solis and her purchasing a collection of firearms and Solis training her in the use of an AK-47.
Nobody was harmed when the heist was carried out and no shots were fired. Nevertheless, you may be surprised to learn Tallchief was no stranger to firearms.
Screenrant details that Tallchief's employment record at Loomis indicated she was exceptionally skilled with a firearm and maybe wasn't quite the novice she was portrayed to be in Heist.
According to her record, she passed the firing range within the first few weeks of her employment and reportedly "stunned her coworkers" after earning record high scores on the test.
Her skills in firearms were partly responsible for her fast-track progression from doing low-security, low-skilled journeys with traceable cash to local casinos and the cash machine run for Vegas establishments.
4. Heather Tallchief Was Under Federal Supervision
In 2005, Tallchief faced charges of embezzlement, bank fraud, bank robbery, false statements, interstate flight to avoid prosecution and using a firearm for a violent crime.
She pled guilty to one count of obtaining a false passport and to two counts of embezzlement, receiving a prison sentence of five years. She was released in 2010.
Heist doesn't touch on the fact Tallchief also spent five years under federal supervision following her release, meaning she wasn't truly "free" until 2015.
At the end of Heist episode two, an update is given on Tallchief's whereabouts today. She has returned to a career in nursing and continues to reside in the US. Her son, Dylan, graduated college in 2019.
5. Who is Donna Marie Eaton?
When Tallchief and her son Emilio left Solis, they managed to get fake passports "through a friend of a friend" which allowed them to stay in Amsterdam for 10 years.
Speaking in the documentary (through an actress), Tallchief explains: "My end goal was 'how can I get him this normal childhood?' because I only had 10 years until his passport expired and my identity along with it. Time was ticking."
If you look closely enough, you will be able to see Tallchief adopted the identity of a British citizen by the name of Donna Marie Eaton from Manchester. Emilio's name was changed to Dylan, to match his fake British passport.
Unfortunately, the real Donna Marie Eaton, or the person who organized the fake passports doesn't appear in Heist. Consequently, it isn't clear who Donna Marie Eaton was, or if she ever existed.
6. Are Heather Tallchief and the 'Mystery Dude' Still Together?
Unfortunately, the identity of the man who became part of Tallchief and Dylan's family is never revealed in the Netflix documentary.
This may appear surprising to some, considering members of Tallchief's family and friends appear throughout both episodes, adding context and anecdotes to the story.
In Heist, Tallchief recalls: "I met this dude. He came into our lives and adopted both of us. We were like a pre-packed family. Instant family."
Unfortunately, Heist doesn't delve too deep into their relationship and has left the question of whether Tallchief and the "mystery dude" are still together today.
Reflecting on Tallchief's story, Heist showrunner Derek Doneen reflected: "Because we're hearing it from her perspective, we're hearing from this person, we're unpacking themes of love and addiction and heartbreak and adolescence, and there's so much there that gets glossed over. If you're just hearing it from other people, then it just becomes about the 1-2-3 of what happened during the crime."
Heist is streaming on Netflix now.
