Jodi Huisentruit, a 27-year-old morning news anchor at KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa, was abducted from the parking lot of her apartment complex before dawn on June 27, 1995, as she was leaving for work. What happened to Jodi Huisentruit after that moment is still unknown. Her body has never been found, no one has been charged, and the investigation remains active more than thirty years later. Two federal grand juries have been convened without producing an indictment, the most prominent person of interest has died, and a partial palm print and hair recovered from her car have never been publicly matched to anyone.
What Happened the Morning She Vanished
Huisentruit was due at the KIMT studio by 3:00 a.m. for the “Daybreak” show. She was often late, and when she didn’t arrive, producer Amy Kuns called to wake her. Kuns reached her at about 4:10 a.m. Huisentruit asked what time it was, said she’d be right in, and “sounded okay on the phone,” according to Kuns. Kuns called again around 5:00 a.m. The phone rang with no answer.1FindJodi. Interview With Amy Kuns2NewsNation. Jodi Huisentruit Timeline
Police arrived at the Key Apartments complex at 600 North Kentucky Avenue at 7:16 a.m. In the parking lot, Huisentruit’s red 1991 Mazda Miata, bought only weeks earlier, was still there. Scattered on the pavement around it were her purse, a hair dryer, hair spray, a pair of red high-heeled shoes, and earrings. The Miata’s key was bent inside the driver’s side door lock. Drag marks ran across the rain-soaked asphalt. Investigators also recovered a partial palm print and a hair from the car.3Iowa Cold Cases. Jodi Huisentruit Case Summary4CBS News. Jodi Huisentruit Missing Anchor Evidence Photos
Investigators believe she was taken between roughly 4:15 and 4:30 a.m., in the narrow window after Kuns’s call and before anyone else would have seen her leave. Her canvas tote bag, which she carried for work notebooks and computer diskettes, was never found.3Iowa Cold Cases. Jodi Huisentruit Case Summary
The evening before, Huisentruit had attended a golf tournament fundraiser and told others she had been receiving “annoying phone calls” and planned to change her number. She also stopped by the apartment of a friend, John Vansice, to watch a videotape of a surprise birthday party he had co-hosted for her weeks earlier. She called another friend later that night and, according to that friend’s husband, “sounded cheerful and didn’t seem worried about anything.”2NewsNation. Jodi Huisentruit Timeline5FindJodi. John Vansice – An Elusive Search for Official Answers
In May 2001, a Cerro Gordo County District Court judge declared Huisentruit legally dead on her family’s petition. Attorney Robert Swanson, appointed by the court to investigate independently, concluded there was “no evidence that Jodi is currently alive” and that she “presumably met an untimely early and involuntary demise.”6Globe Gazette. Court Declares Jodi Huisentruit Legally Dead
The White Van
One piece of early witness evidence has outlasted the first scene. A witness named Randy Linderman told police he saw a white Ford Econoline-style van parked in the apartment lot at roughly 3:50 a.m., with parking lights on but headlights off. A second witness, who lived across the street, reported seeing a similar van between 4:00 and 4:30 a.m. and hearing car doors close. The van was never identified, and investigators have never confirmed it was involved in the abduction.7FindJodi. The White Van
John Vansice
For most of the investigation’s history, John Vansice was the most prominent person of interest. A former seed salesman, he was considered one of the last people to see Huisentruit alive. He told police he saw her the evening of June 26 to give her the birthday party videotape, and he appeared at the crime scene the following morning.
A federal grand jury examined the case in 1997 and heard testimony about Vansice’s movements that morning. A witness named LaDonna Woodford told the grand jury she had called Vansice at about 6:00 a.m. on June 27, that he was home, and that the two of them subsequently went for a walk. No indictment resulted.8FindJodi. 30 Years 30 Facts
A second federal grand jury was convened in Cedar Rapids in March 2017. Vansice was subpoenaed and required to provide DNA samples, fingerprints, and palm prints. Again, no charges were filed.8FindJodi. 30 Years 30 Facts Also in 2017, Mason City police obtained a warrant to install GPS tracking devices on two vehicles registered to Vansice, a 1999 Honda Civic and a 2013 GMC 1500, monitoring their movements between Iowa and Arizona from March 2 to March 6. Police Chief Jeff Brinkley later said the GPS data produced “no useful information.”9FindJodi. Portion of 2017 GPS Search Warrant Made Public
In a 2019 conversation with private investigator Steve Ridge, Vansice maintained his innocence and disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He died in Arizona on December 6, 2024, at age 78.10KTTC. Private Investigator Shares Passing of Figure Once Linked With Jodi Huisentruit Investigation
After Vansice’s death, Ridge asked the court to unseal the 2017 warrant, arguing that no one could be prosecuted and that the family deserved closure. Following a March 3, 2025 hearing, Senior Judge James Drew issued a split decision. The non-affidavit portions, including the GPS tracking data, could be released. The affidavit itself, prepared by Mason City police investigator Terrance Prochaska, would remain sealed indefinitely. The judge reasoned that it contained details about “times, items found at the scene, the specific location of those items, and other observations” known only to law enforcement and the perpetrator.9FindJodi. Portion of 2017 GPS Search Warrant Made Public
Christopher Revak
A separate name has drawn renewed attention. Christopher Revak was a suspected serial killer who died by suicide in 2009 in a Missouri jail cell while facing a homicide charge for the 2007 killing of Rene Williams, a bartender from Ava, Missouri. In October 2025, the Wood County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin announced that Revak was responsible for the 2006 murder of 21-year-old Deidre Harm, whose skeletal remains were found five months after she disappeared. The Wood County District Attorney said charges would have been filed had Revak been alive.11Fox 9. Jodi Huisentruit Person of Interest Who Died by Suicide Responsible for Wisconsin Murder12KCCI. Christopher Revak Link to Jodi Huisentruit Case
Iowa investigators have examined whether Revak could be linked to Huisentruit. His then-girlfriend lived in the same duplex as John Vansice at the time, raising the possibility that Revak could have encountered Huisentruit through that address. Iowa and Wisconsin investigators began comparing notes on Revak in December 2024, and the lead investigator in the Huisentruit case noted similarities between the Harm and Williams cases and Huisentruit’s abduction.13NewsNation. Huisentruit Person of Interest Linked to Death of Wisconsin Woman12KCCI. Christopher Revak Link to Jodi Huisentruit Case The theory has limits. Mason City Police Lt. Frank Stearns said in 2009 there was “no evidence” connecting Revak to the disappearance, and a later inquiry found that Revak’s ex-wife had moved out of the duplex six months before Huisentruit vanished.11Fox 9. Jodi Huisentruit Person of Interest Who Died by Suicide Responsible for Wisconsin Murder
Other Leads
In 2020, investigative journalist and private investigator Steve Ridge reported that Angela Johnson, a convicted murderer serving time for her role in five killings in the 1990s, claimed that her former partner Dustin Honken “knows what happened to Huisentruit.” Honken was a convicted drug kingpin sentenced to death for those same murders. Ridge, who said he was the only person to have spoken with Johnson about the claim, said he believed Honken “most likely knows who did” abduct Huisentruit, even if he was not directly involved. Ridge appealed to Honken’s federal public defenders to interview him before his scheduled execution.14KWWL. The Clock Is Ticking15WXOW. Inmate on Death Row May Know Secrets
In late 2024, authorities traveled to Winsted, Minnesota, to search land around a construction site. Police did not disclose what prompted the search, and no human remains were found. Producers of a later Hulu docuseries said the search was partly spurred by a tip generated by a 2022 episode of ABC’s 20/20 on the case.16NewsNation. Jodi Huisentruit Search17Fox 9. Jodi Huisentruit Disappearance New Hulu Documentary
In June 2026, Steve Ridge publicly announced that he had identified a potential suspect in the case. Ridge said he had located a woman who had a romantic relationship with the suspected individual in the months immediately after Huisentruit’s disappearance. According to Ridge, the woman reported that the suspect was regularly under surveillance by authorities and, during a moment of frustration while being followed in Minnesota, slammed the steering wheel and said, “I didn’t do it. I didn’t do it,” before finally stating, “I did it.” The witness provided Ridge with photos, financial records, ticket stubs, and handwritten communications documenting the relationship. Ridge shared the findings with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and encouraged authorities to involve the cold case unit at the Iowa Attorney General’s office. He did not publicly identify the suspect or say whether that person is still alive.18KTTC. Private Investigator Says He Found Potential Suspect Behind Jodi Huisentruit’s Disappearance
Where the Case Stands Now
As of mid-2026, the investigation is active and open. It is led by the Mason City Police Department and Iowa DCI Special Agent Ryan Herman, and the department continues to receive tips monthly. Investigators have conducted more than 1,000 interviews and followed thousands of tips over three decades.3Iowa Cold Cases. Jodi Huisentruit Case Summary19KTTC. 30 Years: Challenges and Opportunities The partial palm print and hair from the Miata have never been publicly matched to anyone. Mason City police maintain a standing $50,000 reward, and a separate $100,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of Huisentruit’s remains was announced by an investigative journalist in 2024.11Fox 9. Jodi Huisentruit Person of Interest Who Died by Suicide Responsible for Wisconsin Murder
Anyone with information can contact the Mason City Police Department at (641) 421-3636 or Iowa DCI Special Agent Ryan Herman at rherman@dps.state.ia.us.20KTTC. Jodi Huisentruit Case: Missing Anchor’s 58th Birthday Marked