A judge will soon make a decision on potentially unsealing a search warrant relating to the infamous 1995 disappearance of Iowa news anchor Jodi Huisentruit.
June 27 will mark 30 years since Jodi Huisentruit disappeared in what has become one of America’s most infamous missing person cases. Huisentruit is believed to have been abducted while leaving her apartment in Mason City, Iowa, for her early morning shift at the KIMT news station.
According to FindJodi.com, a website devoted to solving the chilling mystery, Senior Judge James Drew heard arguments to unseal a search warrant related to the case. The warrant includes GPS data from two vehicles owned by John Vansice, a person of interest in the case who passed away in December:
“Attorneys Nellie O’Mara and Jesse Marzen argued the warrant should be unsealed since Vansice “passed away in December 2024 and, as such, any ongoing investigation into this matter has now ceased.”
Arguing for the unsealing of the search warrant, Marzen told the court, “The (Vansice) family needs this opened up and unsealed so they can move on after his death and know he’s no longer being investigated for something he can never be charged with.”
Cerro Gordo County Attorney Carlyle Dalen pushed back, saying the investigation is still active and releasing the warrant could hurt ongoing efforts to solve the case.”
The judge will make a decision in 30 days.
Huisentruit was 27 years of age when she disappeared and was declared legally dead in 2001. Investigators found signs of a struggle outside the apartment building, including a bent key and personal items such as a blow dryer, earrings and high heels strewn across the lot.
Witnesses also reported hearing a scream around the time Huisentruit disappeared but never called police. A “suspicious” white van was also spotted in the parking lot. KITM called authorities roughly three hours after Huisentruit told a co-worker she was on her way to the station via phone call.
Vansice was one of the last people to see Huisentruit alive, but details about him being a suspect outside of the GPS in his vehicles aren’t clear.
Jodi Huisentruit Case Has Received National Attention
Two of America’s most popular real-life crime TV programs, “Unsolved Mysteries” and “America’s Most Wanted”, ran stories on Huisentruit’s disappearance in hopes of getting more helpful information from viewers nationwide. A season 44 episode of ABC’s “20/20” show also featured Huisentruit’s case in 2022.
Anyone with information related to Huisentruit’s disappearance is encouraged to contact Mason City Police or FindJodi.com.
