Cerro Gordo County Iowa
Part of the IaGenWeb Project
|
Mason City, Mason Township, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa June 27, 1995
"Jodi's this upbeat, friendly, outgoing, very lovely person," said Ray GOVE, her former band director in Long Prairie, where she twice was a member of the state champion high school golf team. "You always knew when she was in the room." She was a graduate of St. Cloud State University. Jodi usually arrived at CBS affliliate KIMT-TV station where she was a morning and noon news anchor and producer between 3 and 4 a.m. On the morning of Tuesday, June 27, 1995, Jodi hadn't arrived at work by 4:00 a.m. Co-producer Amy KUNS called her. HUISENTRUIT answered the phone and said she had overslept. She would be at the station shortly. Nothing in HUISENTRUIT'S tone of voice indicated that she was experiencing any undue stress. By 7:00 a.m., HUISENTRUIT still hadn't arrived at the station. Alarmed, her co-anchor called the Mason City Police Department, asking them to check on Jodi's well-being. The officers arrived at HUISENTRUIT'S apartment complex [600 North Kentucky Avenue] and discovered a several of her personal items strewn about the parking lot, such as her hair spray, hair dryer, key ring, earrings and a pair of red high-heeled shoes. These were items HUISENTRUIT normally carried in a canvas tote bag to and from work. One of the keys on the key ring had been bent. Jodi's canvas tote bag in which she often carried her notebooks and computer diskettes was not found at the scene and has never been located.
Scuff marks in the parking lot, believed to have been made by HUISENTRUIT'S shoes, led away from her car. Upon canvassing the neighborhood, several of Jodi's neighbors stated that they had heard screams. A few said they had seen a white van in the parking lot around the time Jodi was believed to have been abducted. Authorities believe that HUISENTRUIT was attacked from behind when she was unlocking the passenger-side door of her vehicle. She screamed and was struck in the head with a heavy object, then dragged to her attacker's waiting vehicle. It is believed that Jodi's attacker probably had been watching her and knew her behavior patterns. The search for Jodi was one of the largest manhunts in Iowa history. Investigators have followed up on thousands of tips, tracked down at least 1,300 leads and interviewed more than 1,000 people. The community of Mason City continues to mark the anniversary of Jodi's disappearance every year while the police await the one solid tip they need to close the city's most infamous cold case. Jodi's case had been featured on America's Most Wanted which generated more than 60 tips, Psychic Detectives, Unsolved Mysteries, 20/20, numerous talk shows, and the Nancy Grace program.
Globe Gazette
MASON CITY - Jodi HUISENTRUIT, the KIMT anchorwoman who disappeared during June of 1995, was declared legally dead Monday in Cerro Gordo County District Court. Judge Steven P. CARROLL signed the court order, requested by HUISENTRUIT'S family, after Clear Lake attorney Robert SWANSON, appointed by the court to represent HUISENTRUIT'S interests, issued his report. SWANSON was appointed to independently investigate the case on behalf of HUISENTRUIT three weeks ago. "There just isn't any evidence that Jodi voluntarily left her apartment, or staged the scene of her disappearance," SWANSON said. "There is evidence that she was involuntarily removed from her apartment complex." SWANSON reviewed Mason City Police Department records and talked to Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents involved in the case while conducting the independent investigation for the court. "There is no evidence that Jodi is currently alive," SWANSON said. "Presumably she met an untimely early and involuntary demise." Saying the court order establishing HUISENTRUIT'S death is in her best interest, CARROLL signed the order without reopening the hearing. Thaddeus V. JUDE, Maple Lake, Minn., who represents HUISENTRUIT'S family, was not at the hearing. HUISENTRUIT'S sister, JoAnn NATHE of Sauk Centre, Minn., said the request was a "very private family matter," which legally had to be done. "I'm glad we settled it," she said. "We did what we had to do. Jodi would have wanted us to do this. She was one to take action and do what needed to be done." NATHE said the family would continue its search for the truth of what happened in June 1995. JUDE said Monday's court action would allow the family to proceed in completing HUISENTRUIT'S estate matters. HUISENTRUIT disappeared early June 27, 1995, and is believed to have been abducted from the parking lot of the Key Apartments, where she lived.
Globe Gazette
MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) - The personal journal of a missing television anchorwoman was mailed to the local newspaper from an unknown source and authorities are looking into the incident. Jodi HUISENTRUIT, 27, a KIMT-TV morning news anchor, disappeared on her way to work on June 27, 1995. She had talked to a fellow worker early that morning, saying she was on her way to the station. She has not been seen or heard from since. Law enforcement has followed thousands of leads in a case publicized nationally. Many details of the case including the 84-page journal remain confidential. "We like to keep the integrity of the investigation as pristine as possible," said DCI Special Agent In Charge Jeff JACOBSON. The Mason City Globe Gazette received the journal in a large envelope with no return address and a June 4 postmark from Waterloo. Police and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation officials said they do not believe the document was leaked by their employees, but are conducting an investigation to determine where it came from. Representatives of both agencies confirmed that the copy was a reproduction of a journal they took into evidence after searching HUISENTRUIT'S apartment in the days following her abduction. "We're confident that it didn't come from Iowa DCI case files or case files from the Mason City Police Department," said Police Chief Mike LASHBROOK. He said copies in the case files have specific markings not appearing in the copy sent to the newspaper. Authorities said several agencies have worked on the case, but only three, the local police department, the DCI and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have copies of the journal. "It was unlawfully released," said DCI Agent Chris CALLOWAY. "That in itself is part of the investigation right now." Thirteen years after her disappearance, police investigators say they continue to follow leads in the HUISENTRUIT case. Mason City Police Investigator David TYLER and CALLOWAY review information on a regular basis, following leads from across the country. Calloway said they've questioned people as recently as just before the floods. "David and I prioritize the leads as they come in," said CALLOWAY. "On the average we get from three to four leads a month."
Mason City, IA- It's the latest twist in the unsolved disappearance of KIMT anchorwoman Jodi HUISENTRUIT. A copy of her personal journal is anonymously sent to a reporter at a local newspaper. Jodi was on her way to work in the early morning hours of June 27, 1995. Since then, thousands of potential leads have been followed. There are still no answers of where Jodi is nearly 13-years later. The journal contains more than 80 pages. Jodi spells out her personal goals. They include moving to a bigger TV market and trying to drop her Minnesota accent. The entries reveal a young journalist striving to become better person, both in her career, and in life. She was energetic, fun loving, and career oriented, the words from the pages of her journal reveal some of her most intimate thoughts. "Live with passion daily. Be passionate in everyday life. Live the way I want to live-be generous, kind," she wrote in January of 1994. Globe Gazette Editor Joe BUTWEILER couldn't believe the documents were in his hands. He says it appears to have been part of a new life improvement program for Jodi. "She would write down on many different days, things that she wanted, she wanted to get to a larger market, she wanted to earn so many thousand dollars a year," he said. He called Iowa's Division of Criminal Investigation and Mason City Police to find out if the journal was genuine. They told him what he has is real. "It's not a separate copy it's the same copy that was made when our copy was made, DCI's copy was made and FBI's, it's the same," said Mason City Police Chief Mike LASHBROOK. After learning it was real the second question is where did the journal come from? Chief LASHBROOK says it isn't from his department or any other investigating agency. He says they can tell by the markings. "In preparing it for their files they put markings on them, or just through punch holes or staple marks, or whatever, those things become unique to that document," he explains. And why now, after 13 years would someone send the diary anonymously to a newspaper? "Sure I've gotten anonymous tips about things, but never the journal of someone who had gone missing like this," BUTWEILER said. Chief LASHBROOK says they are working with DCI to figure out who sent the journal. If it's someone in law enforcement they could be prosecuted. The journal could be very helpful if they do find a suspect in Jodi's case. Mason City Police say although Jodi's disappearance is considered a cold case, they still get tips on a regular basis. Last November Cindy SWEENEY was sentenced to jail time for lying to police about the case [stating that she was a 13-year-old runaway who was forced to watch the murder of Jodi HUISENTRUIT. None of SWEENEY's statements were credible and she later admitted that she had lied.]
NOTE: Futher investigation revealed that the wife of a former police chief had been the person who
sent the copies of Jodi's journal pages to The Globe Gazette
Post-Bulletin
When Gary and Gladys PETERSON meet new people, it's often on the worst day of their lives. It might be the death of a loved one or someone has gone missing when the Petersons are called to the scene. "Part of this involvement started six years ago when Gladys and I became certified on an international level by the American Board of Medico/Legal Death Investigators," Gary PETERSON said. Residents of Spring Valley, the Petersons are one of three investigators in Fillmore County. They are called upon for all deaths outside of nursing homes or hospital. Their job is to collect information and order an autopsy if necessary. "We come upon some difficult and interesting scenarios," Gladys PETERSON said. Usually, the couple works with family members, emergency medical technicians and law enforcement.
It was the disappearance of Iowa news anchor Jodi HUISENTRUIT that led the PETERSONS to a new vocation, that of volunteer search coordinators for the nonprofit organization Texas Equusearch. When HUISENTRUIT disappeared in 1995 in Mason City, PETERSON was the news director at KAAL television in Austin. He and reporter Josh BENSON went to Mason City to report on the investigation. "One thing led to another, and Josh and I have been involved in the HUISENTRUIT case ever since," PETERSON said. After three years of research, PETERSON and BENSON produced a 14-part report, "The HUISENTRUIT Files," which won the Eric SEVAREID Excellence in Journalism Award in 2004 and an Emmy in 2005. They also established and maintain a Web site, FindJodi.com, that receives 50 or 60 hits a day on average. The PETERSONS have been called upon for many missing person cases. Some are high-profile cases, such as the Caylee ANTHONY case in Florida, which was recently resolved, and the Stacy PETERSON case in Chicago. The couple is working on open cases in New York, Texas, Vermont, Iowa and Illinois. "As search manager, we are a communication liaison between family and law enforcement, help organize a ground search, ride with police, firefighters and search teams," said Gladys PETERSON. "Families are vulnerable in these horrible situations. They feel alone, and our job is to give them a first-hand, honest report. ... It doesn't take much to give them a glimmer of hope, to keep them encouraged."
Involvement in missing person cases has led to a first-hand investigation for Gary PETERSON. Troubled by the deaths of 140 college students during six years in river cities in the U.S., Gary has put the dates and locations of the incidents on a spread sheet. "The results are chilling," he said. There is almost a direct geographical line in the location and sequence of the missing person reports of men who left a bar and were not seen again. He hopes to spur further investigation into these cases by computing similarities. The PETERSONS believe their service is worthwhile, though many cases are frustrating They volunteer their time, though they might get help with travel expenses from the non-profit organization or from families or other volunteers. The work can take a toll physically and emotionally. "Thank God we are both involved in this," Gladys PETERSON said. "Talking through it helps relieve the burden." Their goal is to find the missing person regardless of the outcome. "Even when they have solved the case, you have to accept the fact that 'why' may never be answered," Gary PETERSON said.
OHL reportedly received information from a street informant regarding police misconduct in the HUISENTRUIT case, which she had recorded, and consequently failed to immediately submit the recording in as evidence. OHL had implicted Mason City police officers in the HUSIENTRUIT disappearance and in the 1999 murder of Gerald BEST of Mason City. OHL claimed that Lt. Frank STEARNS, Lt. Ron Vande WEERD and former DCI agent Bill BASLER were involved in HUSIENTRUIT'S disappearance, and that Lt. Logan WERNET was involved in a coverup in connection with the BEST murder. Both cases remain unsolved. Mason City attorney Susan BERNAU called OHL'S allegations as being "outrageous." OHL was put on paid administrative leave, was examined by a psychologist who determined OHL was unfit or capable of being a police officer. OHL's claims were that Rev. Shane PHILPOTT had received a telephone call from Donald MILK, a man from Minnesota, about the police misconduct and coverup, implicating STEARNS, Vande WEERD, BASLER and WERNET. Included in the information was a claim that HUISENTRUIT was buried near a sawmill near Forest City. OHLS held onto the information for three years before coming forward. She was terminated for violating several departmental rules which included misuse of evidence, withholding information in a criminal case and insubordination. DCI issued a news release stating that there was no credible evidence that linked police officer or DCI agents in the HUISENTRUIT case. OHL filed claims of sexual discrimination, religious discrimination and retaliation against the Mason City Police Department with the Mason City Human Rights Commission and filed a subsequent lawsuit in federal district court in 2010. She claimed that she was subjecto to an ongoing harassment and discriminatory treatment because of her gender and had been denied training and promotion opportunities. Additionally, OHL claimed that she had been repeatedly subjected to inappropriate behavior which included a male officer pointing an unloaded gun at her head and pulling the trigger, and several instances of lewd language and gestures.
PHILPOTT claimed that he personally
called the Mason City Police Department with the information, taling to both STEARNS and Vande WEEDE on July 3rd or 5th
in 2007. Investigation revealed that neither officer had been working on either of those dates.
Globe Gazette
by John Skipper
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the July 2, 1995, edition of the Globe Gazette.
MASON CITY --- Police believe KIMT-TV newswoman Jodi Huisentruit was abducted as she went to her car in the parking lot at Key Apartments between 4 and 5 a.m. Tuesday.
Police Chief Jack Schlieper said Saturday the case is now being officially classified as an abduction and that a mid-1980s white Ford Econoline van is being sought in connection with the investigation.
"At least one witness saw a van in the parking lot shortly before 4 a.m.," Schlieper said at a press briefing Saturday afternoon. Also, he said, "Between 4 and 5 a.m., at least one scream was heard.
"I want to emphasize that the person or persons associated with the van are not necessarily suspects. They simply may have information that would help us in our investigation." No information is known about the van's license plates, Schlieper said. He said it is not known whether Huisentruit's occupation or public identity had anything to do with the abduction.
Schlieper said eight teams of investigators have been working since Tuesday and that more than 200 people have been interviewed. "Over the next few days, we'll be expanding our search area and expanding the number of people assisting with the investigation," he said.
The Mason City Fire Department and state Department of Natural Resources will continue to search the Winnebago River but there are no immediate plans to search other bodies of water, Schlieper said.
He said police have received 200 to 300 tips from the public. "We are in the process of computerizing the information from the tips in order to form a time line," he said.
Meanwhile, John Vansice of Mason City said Saturday he took a polygraph test in Cedar Falls Saturday "and passed with flying colors."
Vansice, 49, a district sales manager for Pfister Hybrid Seed Co., is believed to be the last person to see Huisentruit before her disappearance.
He said she stopped by his apartment Monday night to watch a video of a surprise birthday party he held for her early last month. Vansice described his association with the 27-year-old Huisentruit as a "father-daughter type relationship." He said he met her last fall, shortly after he moved to Mason City from central Iowa. He was a neighbor of hers in the Key Apartments when he first moved to Mason City, he said.
Vansice said he took the polygraph test at the request of police. "I was offended at first, but now I understand. I'm glad I did this because it proves I had nothing to do with it," he said.
When asked about Vansice's remarks, Schlieper said, "Anyone who truly cares about Jodi's safety would not want to jeopardize that safety or our investigation by talking to the media about their involvement in our investigation."
A reward fund, which now totals more than $11,000 has been established through Cerro Gordo County Crime Stoppers for information concerning the case. Persons wishing to donate to the fund may do so by sending their contribution to Crime Stoppers, c/o Liberty Bank & Trust, PO Box 851, Mason City, Iowa, 50402.
Persons with information concerning the case should call Mason City police at 421-3636 or Crime Stoppers at 800-383-0088.
Globe Gazette
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the July 22, 1995, edition of the Globe Gazette.
MASON CITY --- At least one more lie detector test may have been given as investigators continue their search for missing KIMT-TV news anchor Jodi Huisentruit.
During a news conference Friday afternoon at the police station, Capt. Mike Halverson said the Division of Criminal Investigation had a team of polygraph experts in Mason City this week, but would neither confirm nor deny that tests were given. "You'll have to draw your own conclusion," Halverson said.
Investigators believe Huisentruit, 27, was abducted as she went to her car in the parking lot at the Key Apartments between 4 and 5 a.m. June 27.
John Vansice of Mason City is the only person known to have taken a polygraph test since the investigation began.
Vansice, 49, a friend of the missing woman and a district sales manager for Pfister Hybrid Seed Co., is believed to have been the last person to see Huisentruit before her disappearance.
More than 800 interviews and leads have been checked out so far during the investigation, which has caught national attention. Halverson said he expects about 100 more leads and tips to be investigated.
A reward fund which now totals more than $26,000 has been established through Cerro Gordo County Crime Stoppers for information concerning the case. People who wish to donate to the fund may do so by sending their contributions to Crime Stoppers, c/o Liberty Bank & Trust, P.O. Box 851, Mason City, Iowa, 50402.
People with information concerning the case should call Mason City police at 421-3636 or Crime Stoppers at 800-383-0088.
Globe Gazette
by Courtney Fiorini
MASON CITY — A CBS news documentary airing Saturday night on Jodi Huisentruit's disappearance will show "never-before-seen footage" of John Vansice, a man police have said is a person of interest in the cold case. “48 Hours” and reporter Jim Axelrod, according to a release from the network, hope to reveal new information into the more than two-decade search for Huisentruit in the hour-long episode titled “FindJodi.”
"48 Hours" is an investigative news program focusing on crime and justice cases, including cold cases.
“The report includes never-before-seen footage of a man who remains on police radar more than two decades after Huisentruit went missing,” CBS said in a news release Wednesday. “John Vansice was a friend of Huisentruit and volunteered to police that he was the last to see her alive.”
Reporters from "48 Hours" began reporting in Mason City days after Huisentruit disappeared on June 27, 1995. When the case stalled, CBS said its footage was shelved and never aired.
The footage has since been pulled and shows Vansice meeting with Huisentruit's sister, JoAnn Nathe, CBS said, noting Vansice also describes his friendship with Jodi in the recording.
In 1995, Vansice told CBS he and Huisentruit were so close, he'd give her the shirt off his back.
Vansice, who now lives in Arizona, is believed to be one of the last people to see the then-27-year-old KIMT anchor alive.
He videotaped a birthday party he threw for Huisentruit just days before her disappearance. Vansice said Huisentruit was at his house the night before her disappearance, watching that tape.
He claimed he passed a polygraph test shortly after she disappeared.
In 2004, police checked the basement of a home formerly occupied by Vansice, but said the search yielded no new information.
A Mason City Police Department search warrant in March 2017 named Vansice and sought GPS data from two vehicles, 1999 Honda Civic and 2013 GMC 1500. The warrant remains publicly sealed through Sept. 28, 2019.
In the episode, Mason City Police Chief Jeff Brinkley tells Axelrod investigators have never closed the case.
“It’s never been a cold case for us," Brinkley said. "It’s been an active investigation since it happened.”
It has been 23 years since Huisentruit was last seen. She was declared legally dead in 2001, and no one has been charged in her disappearance.
“I’m not ready to quit yet,” Brinkley said.
The episode is expected to feature new information about the case, exploring multiple leads and theories about her abduction.
The broadcast also includes interviews with co-workers such as former KIMT anchor Robin Wolfram, former news director Doug Merbach, journalist and private investigator Caroline Lowe, Nathe and more.
It also includes several elements of the Globe Gazette's coverage of Huisentruit's disappearance.
A few months before she disappeared, Huisentruit worried about a possible stalker, according to Nathe.
“She got shook up one day when she was out hiking or jogging on a trail and a black truck had followed her,” Nathe said.
"48 Hours" will look at another person who was on police radar, a convicted serial rapist who once lived near Huisentruit.
Brinkley is not sharing specific information regarding the ongoing investigation but said that he thinks "we’re very close, close."
“I don’t wanna let the cat outta the bag,” Brinkley told Axelrod.
The day she disappeared, Huisentruit told a colleague she was on her way to work early that morning but never arrived. Police found signs of a struggle outside her apartment in Mason City.
She was declared legally dead in May 2001.
"48 Hours" producers approached people with FindJodi.com and began working on the episode after attending the dedication of three billboards June 5 in Mason City. That date would have been Huisentruit’s 50th birthday.
Four billboards featuring Huisentruit's photo and the message "Somebody knows something...is it YOU?" were installed in high-traffic areas around Mason City by FindJodi.com, a website devoted to solving the case.
On Jodi Huisentruit's 50th birthday, billboard organizers hope for 'renewed zeal' in solving Mason City case.
Since FindJodi.com was launched in 2003, the website has received several hundred tips and leads.
A preview of the episode aired Friday night. The episode is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. Central on Saturday.
Anyone with information about Huisentruit’s disappearance is asked to contact Mason City Police Lt. Rich Jensen at 641-421-3636.
Arizona man remains a 'person of interest' in Jodi Huisentruit case, police say Mason City search warrant against person of interest in Huisentruit case remains sealed
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the March 17, 2018, edition of the Globe Gazette.
MASON CITY ---The Mason City Police Department has executed a search warrant against a person of interest in the Jodi Huisentruit case, according to a nonprofit website dedicated to educating the public about the missing woman.
John Vansice, whose legal name is Arthur John Vansice, is named on the March 2017 search warrant for GPS data from a 1999 Honda Civic and 2013 GMC 1500, findjodi.com reported Friday.
The warrant was sealed the same day, meaning no other information is publicly available about why the search was ordered, or what was discovered. In October 2017, a judge ordered the documents would remain sealed for another year.
The search warrant filed for vehicle GPS data related to John Vansice. The warrant has been sealed since it was filed, meaning no additional information is available publicly.
The warrant is sealed because investigation in the case is ongoing, Cerro Gordo County Attorney Carlyle Dalen said Friday. He said it's not unusual for search warrants in ongoing cases like Huisentruit's to be sealed.
"Release of information included in the search warrant could jeopardize that (Huisentruit) investigation," Dalen said.
The police department continues to actively work the 22-year-old case of the missing KIMT-TV anchorwoman, Mason City Police Chief Jeff Brinkley said via email to the Globe Gazette Friday.
“The search warrant you are referring to is part of our ongoing investigation,” Brinkley said. “We do not have any public comment at this time about the content of the search warrant or the person(s) named in it.”
Vansice, now 72 and living in Arizona, was an acquaintance of Huisentruit and is believed to be one of the last people to see the 27-year-old woman alive. He videotaped a birthday party he threw for Huisentruit just days before her disappearance. Vansice said Huisentruit was at his house the night before her disappearance, watching that tape.
Vansice said he passed a polygraph test shortly after Huisentruit’s disappearance on June 27, 1995.
Huisentruit told a colleague she was on her way to work early that morning, but never showed up. Police found signs of a struggle outside her Mason City apartment. She was declared legally dead in May 2001.
In 2004, police checked the basement of a home formerly occupied by Vansice, but said the search yielded no new information.
However, Vansice remains a “person of interest” in the case, Lt. Frank Stearns told the Globe Gazette in 2010.
Anyone with information about Huisentruit’s disappearance is asked to contact Mason City Police Lt. Rich Jensen at 641-421-3636.
Mason City Police Capt. Mike Halverson oversees the removal of Jodi Huisentruit's car from the Key Apartments. Huisentruit was reported missing on June 27, 1995. To Halverson's left is tow truck driver Terry Grell and officers Craig Prahm and Tiffany Creekmur.
Rose Tobin of Mason City leads a group of approximately 35 people down North Kentucky Avenue on June 27, 2015, for the Walk for Jodi memorial walk in Mason City. The group began the walk at the Riverside Friends Church across from the Key Apartments and ended at the KIMT television station where Jodi Huisentruit worked when she was abducted in 1995. Tobin was the manager of the Key Apartments where Huisentruit lived at the time of her abduction.
People pray before a walk in memorial of missing KIMT news anchor Jodi Huisentruit on June 27, 2015, in Mason City. The walk went from Riverside Friends Church to KIMT studios. The church is across the street from the apartments where officials believe the anchor was abducted in 1995. She has never been found.
Students in the YMCA Teen Leadership program release balloons during the candlelight vigil in June 2000 at KIMT for Jodi Huisentruit.
Globe Gazette
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the June 26, 2016, edition of the Globe Gazette.
That's the stark reaction of Mason City Police Chief Jeff Brinkley concerning the disappearance of KIMT morning anchor Jodi Huisentruit.
June 27 will mark the 21st anniversary of the day Huisentruit, 27, failed to show up for work at the television station for her 6 a.m. news broadcast.
Station management contacted police who headed to her residence at the Key Apartments. There, in the parking lot, officers found Huisentruit's car, plus a pair of red high-heel shoes, a blow dryer, hair spray and earrings strewn about, as if there had been a struggle.
Police believe she was abducted and have acted on thousands of tips they've received over the years, including one just last week.
Brinkley, who began his duties as police chief earlier this year and had been an officer in Ames before that, was well aware of the Huisentruit case before he came to Mason City.
"A lot of people think it's a cold case, but it's not. It is still an active investigation. We follow up on every tip we get and we always will.
"Someone out there knows what happened. You can't do something like this without telling someone. Someone knows," he said.
Brinkley said the Huisentruit case has been the subject of many television shows focusing on unsolved crimes and still gets extensive media attention, particularly on the anniversary of her disappearance.
"And that's OK," he said. "Anything that keeps it in the public eye is good.
The Huisentruit case file is voluminous and Brinkley intends to take the time to read every word of it.
"I would love to be able to close the file on this one," he said. "There are a lot of officers here and retired officers who feel the same way. The day that happens - the day we close this — that will be a very good day."
Globe Gazette
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the Dec. 14, 2004, edition of the Globe Gazette.
MASON CITY — A police investigation involving the former home of an acquaintance of missing TV anchorwoman Jodi Huisentruit has fueled speculation about developments in the case.
But police said Tuesday they have found no new information.
When police investigators checked the basement of 510 Sixth St. S.E. last week, some media outlets started reporting possible breaking news in the Huisentruit case.
Lt. Ron Vande Weerd of the Mason City Police Department said Tuesday night the department did go into the house last week, but the check did not provide any new developments.
The house was at one time occupied by John Vansice, and had been searched before, Vande Weerd said.
Vansice was an acquantance of Huisentruit and is believed to be one of the last people to have seen the KIMT-TV news anchorwoman before she disappeared in 1995.
"We were reviewing some information in our files," Vande Weerd told the Globe Gazette. "And as we often do, we went back to make sure we didn't miss anything."
Vande Weerd said police were recently told that there was an area in the basement where the cement appeared to be of a different age than the rest.
"But we didn't find anything that we didn't know before," he said.
KAAL-TV of Austin-Albert Lea and KSTP-TV of Minneapolis-St. Paul, both ABC affiliates, reported new developments in the case.
The television and Internet reports said police plan to return to examine concrete and "may dig up concrete in the home."
One television report said the owner said police may return to her home to drill holes to let cadaver dogs sniff it out.
Vande Weerd stopped short of saying police would never go back to the home, but he said there is no immediate plan to return or to drill holes.
Lt. Rich Jensen said the Mason City Police Department received several calls on Tuesday when the television stations aired the reports.
"We had one call from an ABC station in Chicago," Jensen said. "At one point we received a call from a neighbor who was concerned about media trucks in front of the house."
Jensen said officers responded to the neighborhood but there was no trouble.
Vansice, a seed corn salesman, threw a birthday party for Huisentruit just days before her disappearance. He videotaped the party, and says Huisentruit was at his house the night before her disappearance, watching that tape.
The home has changed hands since Huisentruit's disappearance and the current owners are not linked to the investigation.
In 1995, shortly after Huisentruit disappeared, Vansice said he took a polygraph test at the request of the police.
In a Globe Gazette story published July 2, 1995, Vansice said the polygraph proved he had nothing to do with Huisentruit's disappearance.
Vande Weerd said the police department will continue to review the case and follow any developments.
Globe Gazette, Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
Editor's note: This article was originally appeared in the June 27, 2010, edition of the Globe Gazette.
“It’s Jodi’s driver’s license,” said Stearns, who is commander of investigations at the Mason City Police Department.
He glances at the card, showing a smiling Jodi Huisentruit, the KIMT-TV anchorwoman who disappeared 15 years ago today.
“I put it there to make sure I’d never forget. Now, I don’t really need it to remember,” Stearns said.
Stearns — and scores of others — have spent thousands of hours trying to unlock the mystery of Huisentruit’s disappearance.
Today’s anniversary brings with it frustration.
“We don’t know anymore today than we did on June 27, 1995,” Stearns said.
Tantalizingly little is known about what happened on that Tuesday morning.
It had been hot in Mason City the previous few days; over the weekend Civil War re-enactors had been fighting the Battle of Pleasant Hill in East Park in 95-degree heat, according to the Globe Gazette.
Huisentruit had just returned from “a road trip to Iowa City ... oh, we had fun! It was wild, partying and water skiing,” she wrote in her journal two nights before her disappearance.
Early Tuesday, then-KIMT producer Amy Kuns said she had called Huisentruit about 4 a.m. when Huisentruit did not show up for work. Huisentruit answered the telephone, saying she had overslept.
When Huisentruit failed to arrive at work by 7 a.m., KIMT management called authorities.
When police arrived at the Key Apartments at 600 N. Kentucky Ave., where Huisentruit lived, it was clear something bad had happened.
Items were scattered on the ground near Huisentruit’s Mazda Miata, indicating a struggle.
Then-Globe Gazette reporter Julie Birkedal wrote later, “Beyond the police officer keeping curious reporters and passers-by at bay were a pair of red pumps sitting on the ground near her car. When I went back later, a chalk line marked the place in the parking lot where the shoes had been.
“It seemed so out of kilter,” Birkedal wrote. “This was Mason City, the home of Meredith Willson, the Band Festival parade and ‘76 Trombones.’ It wasn’t the kind of place where people disappear.”
KIMT President and General Manager Steve Martinson recalled, “When I came in that morning we knew immediately it was serious; she was always someone who showed up for work.”
Martinson at that time was sales manager at the station.
“Investigators were interviewing everybody. Here we were in Mason City — and people go away forever? That’s not supposed to happen.”
Neighbors at the apartments might have heard her scream; there was a report of a white van seen in the parking lot that morning. At first the search was conducted in an area around the Key Apartments. Soon the perimeter widened over and over again, spiraling out as more hands became involved. “Those first weeks we had FBI, DCI — not just investigators; we had teams of investigators,” Stearns said. In just two days 30 people were interviewed by 15 investigators, according to Globe Gazette accounts. An ABC-TV program on the 10th anniversary of her disappearance reported Huisentruit had spotted a van following her in October 1994, giving rise to speculation that a stalker was at work. “But it never happened again, Stearns said. “We don’t rule anything out, but I really don’t think this is a case of stalking.” A man Huisentruit was seeing socially at the time, John Vansice, remains “a person of interest,” said Stearns. Vansice, 64, who saw Huisentruit the evening before she disappeared, today lives in Arizona. He passed a lie detector test after her disappearance.
The anniversaries have clicked by: one year, then five, then 10. By this 15th anniversary the cast of characters has markedly changed. Martinson is one of about three employees who worked with Huisentruit who remain at the television station. Three Mason City police chiefs have been in office since then. After the late Jack Schlieper, Dave Ellingson took over. Today, Mike Lashbrook is the chief. Lead investigators have come and gone. Rewards offered early went unclaimed. They were eventually transferred to scholarships in Huisentruit’s hometown of Long Prairie, Minn. A reward through local Crimestoppers remains in place. “You think about it everyday,” Martinson said earlier this week. “It’s amazing that after 15 years no has been able to find out what’s happened. “I am not being critical. I just can’t believe it. It blows my mind,” he said. “How can someone not tell anybody about it? After all this time?”
There has been no scarcity of odd happenings in connection with the case. In 1998, investigators looked closely at Tony D. Jackson, a convicted Minnesota rapist who lived in Mason City at the time Huisentruit disappeared. Allegedly Jackson made a reference — imbedded into a rap song — about a body buried in a silo in rural Johnson County, near Tiffin. No link was ever found. The case took an even stranger turn in 2006, when an Anoka, Minn., woman reported that she saw the murder of Huisentruit — an account she later admitted she had made up. She was later fined and given 30 days in jail for filing a false report. In 2008, Huisentruit’s journal ended up in the hands of a Globe Gazette reporter. The item had been sent anonymously, as it turned out, by the wife of former Police Chief Dave Ellingson. No explanation was ever given. The journal yielded little information concerning the case. Huisentruit’s story was carried on national TV — “20/20,” “America’s Most Wanted” and “Unsolved Mysteries” among them, plus newspapers, magazines and hundreds of websites. “We see a spike in tips” when the shows are re-run on cable channels, Stearns said. Still, “not one” viable clue has emerged from the publicity, Stearns said. “When you get down to basics, it’s like any other crime. Hard work is a big part of it — and luck is, too. And we haven’t caught a break on this case since Day One.”
“Today, I can be in Minneapolis, New York City, and I still have people ask: ‘Did you ever find her?’ ” Martinson said. “People do remember.” The case has a new lead investigator for the MCPD. Jeremy Cole “will put new eyes” on the case, said Stearns. Leads come to the MCPD, “weekly,” said Cole. “Usually, about three a week — then you might not have one for awhile,” Cole said. “It just depends.” “The hardest part is talking to the family,” Cole added, referring to Huisentruit’s sisters and mother. “We want to solve this for them; they deserve that,” agreed Stearns. There is hope. Stearns said he still believes there is one person who saw a bit of something, heard that odd piece of conversation, who will give police the clue they need to break the case. “It could be something that you think is not important — but it could make the case,” Stearns said. Stearns has watched a host of investigators come and go — and then retire. “I don’t want to be that guy,” Stearns said. “I want to get this done.”
Globe Gazette
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the June 22, 2008, edition of the Globe Gazette.
“My No. 1 goal is to get a new job,” she wrote in a personal journal in April 1995, two months before her disappearance.
And in an entry Sunday, June 25, two days before she disappeared, she wrote, “Great friends (in Mason City), but professionally, I’m fed up. It’s difficult finding a new job and I’m confused about agents and what to do.”
Photocopies of the journal — a total of 84 pages — were sent to the Globe Gazette from an anonymous source earlier this month.
Law enforcement authorities have confirmed the copies are of the journal they found at her apartment early in the investigation.
The Mason City Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation say they are investigating who might have provided the Globe Gazette with the journal.
Huisentruit’s sister, JoAnn Nathe, told the Globe Gazette she knew her sister kept a diary or journal.
“She did a lot of self improvement things,” said Nathe. “Kept a journal, listened to tapes and took courses. Self improvement was important to her.”
Nathe said she has never seen her sister’s diary or journal and does not have a copy.
Speaking for the Huisentruit family, Nathe said the long period of time since the abduction is discouraging.
“It’s just such a cold case,” said Nathe. “Somebody knows something and we wish they’d come forward.”
It appears Huisentruit started the diary in January 1994 as part of an Anthony Robbins Success program.
In the first months she wrote diligently about her goals, efforts to improve in her profession and personal experiences.
“Remember,” she wrote in early 1994, “there is no time better than now to begin practicing being the best I can be and living the way I want to live.”
Throughout the first couple of months of 1994 Huisentruit had lengthy entries in the journal.
“I love news,” she wrote in a late January 1994 entry, “improve my career, make more money, communicate, have more impact on a larger audience. Get the Huisentruit name out. Make mom proud.
“I need to give myself five years in business,” Huisentruit wrote.
“I’m not where I want to be.”
Her goals included anchoring at a top 50 television station, getting rid of her accent, living in a warm state, having enough money to travel, and buying nice gifts and being generous.
In March 1994 the journal notes “beginning a new career hunt.”
She mentions Paula Zahn and Kathy Lee Gifford as role models.
Entries made in the second half of 1994 and in 1995 are more personal and focus more on documenting events in her life.
The May 31, 1994, entry states: “I’m recovering from Memorial Day Weekend, unbelievable — Indy 500 — a time of my life. Partied with so many wonderful people — Mario Andretti (world class racer), Joe Dumars (Detroit Pistons basketball player) and Tim Allen (TV star from ‘Home Improvement’). Had an incredible weekend.”
In October, Huisentruit and her mother, Jane, went on a cruise.
“Mom and I had a super cruise, we had the time of our life!” reads an Oct. 22, 1994, entry. “It was just a beautiful time.”
She shared a story about attending a safety briefing when her mother asked, “Will we have to wear life jackets the whole time we’re here?”
In several entries Jodi wrote about male friends and a love for dancing. On the cruise she met a man she liked.
“Why do I get hooked so fast?” she questioned. “I’m lonely here at times and would like to have someone to share my life with.
“Sure I meet men — but none that really strikes me, or who follows thru.”
On Valentine’s Day 1995, Jane Huisentruit sent her daughter a half-dozen roses for the second year in a row.
“The vase is beautiful,” Huisentruit wrote, “gold ribbon with clear jewel diamond cut gems. She is so sweet. They (the flowers) were used as the centerpiece of our interview set.”
Huisentruit also noted that her sister JoAnn called. “I’m blessed with a great family.”
In March 1995 Huisentruit wrote, “I stayed in Mason City this weekend to regroup, gather my thoughts and goals, read! And have Jodi time. I’ve enjoyed it. Church is very important to me as is putting myself and family … at the top.”
She continued, “I’m starting fresh at work this week — getting up at 3 a.m. — best newscast in the world — top 10 market — I really think I’ll market myself for AZ. — see what they think about my accent. Or I’ll move down there to produce.”
The final three entries in the journal — June 12, 13 and 25 — include the name of John Vansice, a friend who police have questioned in the case.
Sunday, June 11, 1995
“What a weekend, Surprise.
“My Mason City/Clear Lake friends thru a big party for me! At a lounge, wild.
It was in Clear Lake. They had a 16 gal keg — huge cake (with a skier) so much left.
“John Vansice grilled 150 pork burgers, we were dancing on tables … dancing everywhere … Everyone had a ball.
“Video camera was rolling, cameras were clicking — oh what fun!
“Life is so good. The party made me feel so good.”
Tuesday, June 13, 1995
“Last night John, … and I went to the Glen Miller Orchestra in Belmond. I have so many great viewers. People are so kind. This nice weather has me wild. I bought a new Mazda Miata, simply love it.”
Sunday, June 25, 1995
“Got home from a weekend road trip to Iowa City — oh we had fun! It was wild, partying and water skiing.
“We skied at the Coralville Res. I’m improving on the skis — hips up, lean, etc.
“John’s son Trent gave me some great ski tip advice.
“Today, Sunday, it was raining in Mason City so didn’t get any skiing in. I love it, it’s addicting.
“Great friends but professionally, I’m fed up. It’s difficult finding a new job and I’m confused about agent and what to do.”
Two days later, Tuesday, June 27, 1995, Huisentruit left for work early in the morning but never arrived.
She has been missing since that day.
Globe Gazette
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the June 27, 2007, edition of the Globe Gazette
MASON CITY — Police Capt. Mike Halverson led a 10-person crew of investigators that worked nearly around the clock for many days following Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance on June 27, 1995.
Bill Basler was among the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agents who worked with the Police Department.
Both logged thousands of hours asking questions, checking and rechecking stories.
Huisentruit, 27, a KIMT-TV morning news anchor, disappeared on her way to work. She had talked to a fellow worker early that morning, saying she was on her way to the station.
She has not been seen or heard from since.
“It started like any Tuesday,” said Halverson. “Then we got the call, went and started checking things out and there was something different from the very start.”
There continue to be more questions than answers.
Halverson and Basler both have retired.
It’s a cold case.
Many of the faces involved in the case have changed over the years, except the one indelible image: Jodi Huisentruit.
“People get promotions and others retire,” said Lt. Ron Vande Weerd of the Mason City Police Department.
Investigator Frank Stearns has become a lieutenant and is change of the department’s evening shift.
Investigator Al Haubrich, who handled the case after Stearns, has retired. Investigator David Tyler now heads the case.
Former Mason City Police Chief Jack Schlieper, who went on nationwide television talking about the case, left the department in 1997 and died in 2004.
“Basically, we do the best we can to pass the information, review what we have and follow any new leads,” said Vande Weerd.
“It’s a very large file,” he said. “And just last month we went through the whole thing and retagged all the documents.”
Vande Weerd said whenever something comes up, the case makes its way up the priority list.
Earlier this year, when a Minnesota woman claimed to have information, the department questioned her within days.
“It’s a very high profile case,” Vande Weerd said. “The media has been all over it and when it is in the news, we hear a lot of things. So there have been leads to check out.”
Halverson, who retired in 2005, said he is surprised 12 years have passed without an arrest.
“We had a lot of people on the case,” he said. “And we did a lot of preliminary interviews during the initial course of the investigation.”
As for the media attention, Halverson doesn’t think the camera and reporters got in the way.
“They had a job to do; we had a job to do,” he said. “And everyone pretty much worked together.”
Halverson thinks the person responsible for Huisentruit’s death was no stranger to North Iowa.
“I don’t think it was a mystery person who came here and stalked her and then grabbed her,” said Halverson. “I think the responsible party has been lucky so far.”
Basler, who retired in 2006 and now teaches criminal justice at North Iowa Area Community College, said the Mason City Police Department did a good job of gathering evidence.
“High profile cases, where the media is involved, are more difficult to work,” he said. “But in this particular missing person case, they got a lot of good information out early.
“And any time the case in in the headlines the phone rings,” Basler said. “And that is a good thing.”
Basler said the DCI’s file on the case has been turned over to Agent Chris Calloway.
“He is very familiar with the information,” said Basler. “We went over everything before I left. And I know he has worked on some things since I’ve gone.”
Time is an issue, said Basler.
“As is the case in all unsolved crimes, the longer time goes without an arrest, the more difficult they can be.”
But like many people, Basler still hasn’t given up hope. “As I always say, we’re only one phone call away from getting the information we need.”
Globe Gazette
MASON CITY — A woman accused of providing false information to police about Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance is scheduled to stand trial Aug. 23 in Cerro Gordo County District Court.
Cynthia Marie Sweeney, 25, of Anoka, Minn., was charged with making a false report to a public safety entity and malicious prosecution. Both are serious misdemeanors punishable by a year in jail and a $1,500 fine on each count.
Investigators allege Sweeney intentionally provided false information about Jodi Huisentruit in December 2006.
The story prompted speculation about the unsolved case in both Minnesota and Iowa.
The false information included identifying people she claimed were responsible for kidnapping and murdering Huisentruit, the KIMT-TV newswoman who disappeared 1995.
In addition to providing the information to police, Sweeney contacted media and shared the story.
Sweeney is being represented by the public defender’s office.
Globe Gazette
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the June 24, 2006, edition of the Globe Gazette.
MASON CITY — When Jodi Huisentruit disappeared 11 years ago, the World Wide Web was in its infancy.
News of the anchorwoman’s disappearance on June 27, 1995, made newspaper headlines, television special segments and radio reports across the country.
Today, after years of investigation of suspects, false alarms and the continued search, the case remains on the national radar, especially on the Internet.
Huisentruit, then a 27-year-old news anchor at KIMT-TV in Mason City, failed to show up for work after briefly talking to a colleague during the early morning hours. Personal items were found near her car in the apartment complex where she lived.
A check of major Internet search engines provides a list of nearly 300 opportunities to read stories, message boards and blogs, as well as viewing photos and video footage of reports about the young woman and the people searching for her.
Keith Hanson, who lives in Clear Lake, worked at KIMT-TV when Huisentruit disappeared.
“It went up shortly after the day it happened,” said Hanson of his Web site. “I put the page together as another means of getting the word out.”
Globe Gazette
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the June 25, 2005, edition of the Globe Gazette.
that the remains found were not that of her former KIMT co-worker, Jodi Huisentruit.
MASON CITY — Ten years later the mystery lingers but hope flickers, especially for those who knew and loved Jodi Huisentruit.
The KIMT-TV morning anchor disappeared on the morning of June 27, 1995, and has not been seen since.
"The great hope was always when someone thought they saw her," said JoAnn Nathe, Jodi's sister, who lives in Sauk Centre, Minn.
"Now," she said, "when there's news, it's usually when someone thinks they've found her remains. The dynamic is entirely different."
Amy Kuns is the last person known to have talked to Huisentruit. Kuns called her at her Key Apartments home when Huisentruit was late for her early morning anchor shift at KIMT. Huisentruit told Kuns, a co-worker, she was running late. She never arrived for work.
"For some reason, the 10-year anniversary has been harder on me," said Kuns, who now works for KTTC-TV in Rochester, Minn. "I'm having a tough time with this."
She said she flip-flops between having hope and no hope that the case will ever be solved.
"Sometimes I think: not in my lifetime. Other times I think with all the new technology, there can be new hope. Like CSI," she said.
Kuns said she doesn't think about it every day, but certain things make her think about it all the time.
"White vans still trigger something in my head," she said. A white van was reportedly seen near Huisentruit's apartment the morning she disappeared.
Huisentruit, who was declared legally dead several years ago, would have been 37 this year. She was the youngest of three children.
Nathe, the eldest child, was 18 years older than Jodi.
"When Jodi was in kindergarten, I was teaching kindergarten. That shows you the age difference," she said.
Their mother is 81 now and remains heart broken, said Nathe.
"Jodi was her late-in-life baby. They had a special bond. Jodi's father died when she was 13 and she and her mother did everything together. So it's been hard, really hard."
The other sister, Jill, lives in Las Vegas.
Huisentruit grew up in Lone Prairie, Minn., and was a star golfer in high school.
A week ago, a bench at the 10th hole of the Lone Prairie Country Club was dedicated in her honor.
In Mason City, police continue to get leads — a few a month, according to Detective Lt. Ron Vande Weerd.
"The quality isn't always so good. We have psychics call and people with suggestions and people with ideas they want to bounce off us," he said. "The ultimate hope is that the person or persons responsible will be held accountable — and hopefully that will happen in our lifetimes."
Sgt. Frank Stearns said, "We don't get many leads any more but we're still keeping our eyes and ears open. When we do get a lead, we follow through on it just as aggressively as we did on the first day of the investigation."
Mike Halverson, a police captain who retired earlier this year, said he will always consider the Huisentruit case unfinished business. "I really didn't want to retire until this one was solved and early on I thought we would. It's been a long ten years. One thing's for sure," said Halverson. "Someone out there knows what happened."
Globe Gazette
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the Dec. 6, 2006, edition of the Globe Gazette.
MASON CITY — A woman who claimed to be an eyewitness to the murder of Jodi Huisentruit has changed her story.
The Mason City Police Department announced Wednesday that during a second interview with the woman she, “subsequently recanted key elements of the information previously provided.”
Earlier this week, the woman who the media referred to only as Cindy, went on two Minnesota television stations, giving a detailed explanation of the murder.
Investigators from the Mason City Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation interviewed the woman on Friday evening, Dec. 1, as she claimed to have information about the June 27, 1995, disappearance of Huisentruit.
Police on Wednesday said, after a thorough investigation, none of the information provided by the witness could be substantiated.
It was then that investigators re-interviewed the witness on Wednesday afternoon and she subsequently recanted key elements of the information.
Police have not indicated whether the woman will be criminally charged with providing false information.
The woman, who lives in the Minneapolis area, claimed to be a 13-year-old runaway who was forced to witness the murder.
She said six men were involved and the murder was committed 20 miles northwest of Mason City.
Investigators urge anyone with information they deem relevant to to contact the Mason City Police Department at (641) 421-3636 or Crime Stoppers of North Iowa at (800) 383-0088.
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the June 26, 2005, edition of the Globe Gazette.
MASON CITY — Globe Gazette reporters John Skipper and Julie Birkedal were among current Globe Gazette staffers who were in the newsroom the day that Jodi Huisentruit disappeared.
Here is what they remember about that day.
By JOHN SKIPPER
Of The Globe Gazette
It was a quiet morning in the Globe Gazette newsroom, so quiet in fact, that the occasional banter on the police radio seemed like an intrusion.
I'm not sure when police were officially notified that Jodi hadn't reported for work that day at KIMT-TV. The first inkling we had was at about 9:30 or 10 a.m. when we heard police radio traffic about it.
Even then, it didn't seem too alarming. She hadn't shown up for work. Big deal. This is Mason City, Iowa. Why suspect anything was wrong? She probably just overslept.
And then police went to her apartment and found a pair of red shoes in the parking lot and the scenario changed instantly.
Three weeks earlier, Jodi and I had worked together — me in my role as Band Festival coordinator and she in her role as a festival TV reporter wanting information about the festival. We drank Cokes out of the can and talked about the parade.
And, of course, like thousands of other North Iowans, I knew Jodi from seeing her on KIMT first thing in the morning when I'd tune in to get a feel for what was happening in the world.
As Jodi prepared to go to work on the morning of June 27, 1995, she might have been wondering, like most of us do when we arise in the morning, what life had in store for her on that day.
Moments later, she found out.
The rest of us still wonder what happened to her. But as a community, we lost our innocence that day. No longer can we ever say, "it can't happen here" because it did.
By JULIE BIRKEDAL
Of The Globe Gazette
It was a summer day much like these recent days.
Few people were in the office the morning when we first heard scanner traffic.
Everyone was talking about how Jodi Huisentruit hadn't shown up for her early morning shift at the TV station. It soon became clear that she wasn't oversleeping either.
I took a drive over to the Key Apartments. There, what had at first seemed merely to be a bit of mystery took on a serious tone.
Beyond the police officer keeping curious reporters and passers-by at bay were a pair of red pumps sitting on the ground near her car. When I went back later, a chalk line marked the place in the parking lot where the shoes had been.
It seemed so out of kilter. This was Mason City, the home of Meredith Willson, the Band Festival parade and 76 Trombones. It wasn't the kind of place where people disappear.
In the days and weeks after Jodi vanished, biking along the Winnebago River behind the Key Apartments or heading down the tree-shrouded section of Birch Drive to the east left me feeling fear.
When my daughter wondered years later at anniversary news reports if it was safe for her mother to be a reporter like Jodi, I mumbled about television being different than working for a newspaper, but I knew the real difference wasn't in our roles but in the way the face of life has changed.
Midwestern communities where people once didn't bother to lock their doors, the kind conveyed in "Father Knows Best," aren't the safe havens they were.
We must all be more wary. Enjoy community, but be cautious, too.
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the June 26, 2005, edition of the Globe Gazette.
Feldhaus, 70, never met Huisentruit. But few people know more about the missing KIMT-TV anchorwoman.
For nearly 10 years, the private investigator, who works out of a double-wide trailer he shares with four big dogs and numerous cats on the edge of a small South Dakota town, has studied her every move prior to her disappearance.
Feldhaus has contacted her family and friends, anybody who claims to know anything about the case. He maintains a constant dialogue with law enforcement officers about the case.
"I work on other cases," Feldhaus said. "But this is an obsession, I want to solve it."
A retired computer programmer for the University of South Dakota at Brookings and former researcher for the 3M Company in Minnesota, Feldhaus says he has dreamed about the case, contacted psychics and focuses on suspects who have been implicated in similar crimes.
Some weeks have gone by when Feldhaus said he only thinks about the case.
"Other times I work harder," he said. "I suppose on an average about four or five hours a day."
He does it on his own. There is no financial backing for his work.
"It's all pro-bono," he said. "A few dollars came in early, but it's work I'm doing on my own."
Feldhaus believes he has an advantage over law enforcement in pursuing the case.
"The difference between law enforcement and me," he said, "is that they have dozens of cases to work on all at the same time. I can focus on one case — it's a terrible advantage."
Feldhaus, as well as law enforcement personnel, have interviewed and obtained information on hundreds of people and tracked information from across the Midwest.
Feldhaus runs an automated Google search on his computer. If there's information regarding abductions, sex crimes or murders — anything remotely similar to the Huisentruit case — it shows up on his computer screen.
"The media is a very valuable source," he said. "I think I have everything that has ever been published in the Mason City Globe Gazette."
After reviewing hundreds of potential suspects, Feldhaus believes he is in the middle of investigating a very strong suspect.
"What we do is eliminate one suspect and move on to another," he said. "It's just like the last resort in code breaking."
Feldhaus believes the person or persons responsible have been on his suspect screen at one point or another.
"If I've had them on my screen, they've been on the radar of law enforcement, too," he said.
Bill Basler, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agent in charge, says Feldhaus has been far and away the most active private investigator in the case.
"We have been inundated with suspects from Jim Feldhaus," Basler said. "Nobody else is close to the number of suspects he has suggested."
While Basler admits that while some of the Feldhaus suspects have had no conceivable link to the case, some are people law enforcement have considered.
"We pursue all the leads we receive," Basler said. "There is never a down side to having people give you information. It does no harm."
Speaking specifically about the South Dakota private investigator, Basler said, "He certainly is fascinated with the case."
And Feldhaus doesn't plan to stop until he, or someone else, solves the case.
"We're going to win," Feldhaus said enthusiastically.
"We're not going to stop until we find Jodi and find out who did it."
A scholarship endowment fund was established at Jodi's alma mater - St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota, in Jodi's name. Jodi's disappearance was classified as "homicide strongly suspected" and she was legally declared dead in 2001. Her case remains an open investigation and is unsolved to this day. She was 27-years-old at the time of her disappearance. A website covering Jodi's case has been established at www.findjodi.com.
 Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, October of 2011; updated December of 2018
|
Jodi Sue HUISENTRUIT was born on June 5, 1968, and grew up in Long Prairie, Minnesota.
The officers and agents from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation found the right rear-view mirror on HUISENTRUIT'S 1995 red
Mazda Miata sports car had been knocked ajar and there was blood on the mirror. Blood was also found in the parking lot
near the passenger door of HUISENTRUIT'S car. DNA testing indicated that the blood was a match to HUISENTRUIT'S blood.
The Gerald BEST murder case became intertwined with the Jodi HUISTENTRUIT missing persons case in September of 2011 when
Mason City police officer Maria OHL was investigated by internal affairs on allegations of misconduct. OHL was fired
August 4th, 2011 for allegedly mishandling information she had received involving the 1995 disappearance of KIMT-TV
morning anchor HUISENTRUIT.
OHL is the sister-in-law of Rev. PHILPOTT, pastor of the Christian Fellowship Church. The church was awarded early in
2011 nearly $85,000 in a settlement of a suit against Mason City. The suit claimed that Lt. LASHBROOK and Lt. Logan
WERNET had made damaging remarks about the church, leading to an Internal Revenue Service investigation of the
church's financial records. PHILPOTT and the church were cleared of any wrongdoing.
“I just loved watching her have fun.... I tried to watch over her. I tried to check on her once in a while. Not all the time. Just once in a while. See how’s she’s getting along,” Vansice said. “If you ever go in her apartment and you see men’s clothes, they’re mine. If I had a shirt she liked, you know I’d wear it for a while and then I’d give it to her.”
MASON CITY --- Somebody knows.
There is a small, plastic card stuck behind a piece of electrical conduit that runs the length of wall near Lt. Frank Stearns desk.
MASON CITY — In the days and months before she disappeared on June 27, 1995, Jodi Huisentruit’s top priority was her career.
Her daily life was filled with work, family and friends. She enjoyed travel, social activities and was looking for a special someone with whom to share her life.
The KIMT-TV morning news anchor had high hopes of moving to a larger-market television station.
CANISTOTA, S.D. — Three computer monitors fill the desk space in Jim Feldhaus' office. The air smells of cigarette smoke.
Two of the three computers store information. The third, which has a large monitor obviously is more powerful, is the workhorse — a unit designed to constantly search the Internet for information that might help him solve the case of Jodi Huisentruit.