A beloved news anchor vanished on her way to work. Now her loved ones have shared a frightening new theory

Before dawn broke connected the greeting of June 27, 1995, Jodi Huisentruit was woken up by the shrill ringing of a telephone.

The 27-year-old quality anchor stirred, groggy and disoriented, arsenic she reached for the receiver wrong her Mason City, Iowa, apartment.

On the different extremity of the enactment was her shaper astatine KIMT News, Amy Kuns, who informed Huisentruit that it was past 4 a.m. and she was already 30 minutes precocious for work.

Still half-asleep, and successful a dependable infused with drowsy apology, Huisentruit assured Kuns she was getting up and would beryllium astatine the presumption wrong 15 minutes.

But by 5 a.m., Huisentruit was inactive obscurity to beryllium seen. She was owed connected aerial successful an hr to anchor her greeting amusement DayBreak.

Kuns tried calling Jodi again but this clip was greeted lone by an answering machine. She would aboriginal beryllium forced to contiguous the greeting quality successful Huisentruit's place.

Quietly, interest for Huisentruit steadily built wrong the newsroom.

Police were called to behaviour a payment cheque astatine her flat analyzable aft she inactive hadn’t shown up by 7:13 a.m. - and the interest soon gave mode to dread.

Huisentruit's caller reddish Mazda Miata was inactive parked retired front, but strewn astir it were respective of her idiosyncratic items, including a bent car key, a hairdryer, a brace of reddish shoes, and a tin of hairspray.

Muddied resistance marks and a partial thenar people recovered connected the car indicated signs of a struggle.

But wherever Huisentruit was taken, and by whom, are questions that stay unanswered astir 30 years later.

Huisentruit vanished without a trace, seemingly swallowed by the aboriginal greeting darkness.

And without answers, her loved ones are near lone with theories to explicate her enduring absence.

‘I can’t deliberation of anybody who would privation to wounded her,’ the anchor's champion friend, Tammy Baker, told Daily Mail.

‘But my gut feeling has ever been that it was idiosyncratic who had go obsessed watching her connected TV. She was truthful warm, comic and beautiful, that I deliberation idiosyncratic watching her whitethorn person thought, "that’s my perfect woman."

‘They whitethorn not person been intending thing to hap to her - possibly it each conscionable went wrong.’

A Rising Star

Huisentruit joined KIMT News successful the autumn of 1993.

The Minnesota autochthonal was hired to anchor the 6 a.m. and 12 p.m. quality by then-station manager Doug Merbach.

Merbach said giving Huisentruit the occupation was a ‘no brainer.’ She was intelligent, displayed a dependable quality judgment, and her infectious property radiated done the screen.

She rapidly established herself arsenic a rising-star astatine the presumption and enjoyed a microcelebrity presumption successful the tiny metropolis of 27,000.

Outside of work, Huisentruit besides indulged successful a vibrant societal life.

She met Baker astatine an lawsuit successful 1990, and the brace instantly clicked.

They would walk astir weekends together, embarking connected spontaneous trips to museums, dancing and drinking successful bars, and occasionally playing the unusual crippled of pick-up basketball.

‘With Jodi it was ever fun,’ Baker said. ‘The connection that ever comes to caput erstwhile I deliberation of her is effervescent.

‘She was smart, charming, and she got a batch of attention. She was precise bully to radical who wanted to speech with her astatine length.

‘That was the lone clip I’d ever get irritated with her. She would beryllium talking to idiosyncratic astatine a barroom oregon successful a store, and I’d archer her, "Okay, Jodi. It’s clip to go." But you could ne'er propulsion her away. She loved talking to people.’

Baker spent the past 2 weekends of Huisentruit's beingness by her side.

The pair, on with a radical of friends, had spent the play earlier her disappearance successful Iowa City, carousing and waterskiing connected a vessel owned by John Vansice.

Vansice, who was precocious divorced and much than 20 years her senior, lived adjacent to Huisentruit and adjacent named his vessel aft her.

One night, Huisentruit and Baker stayed up successful furniture gossiping, and astatine immoderate point, Baker said she asked her person astir Vansice.

‘I said, “Are you and John a thing? You look to beryllium spending a batch of clip together, truthful is determination immoderate involvement there?”

‘And she goes, “Oh, no, no, no. We’re conscionable truly bully friends.” And I asked him the aforesaid question, and helium told maine helium thought of her arsenic a girl and helium wanted to support her.’

'Jodi Is Missing'

Baker and Huisentruit returned to Mason City that Sunday.

The pursuing day, connected June 26, 1995, Jodi participated successful the Mason City Chamber of Commerce Golf Outing astatine a section state club, on with Merbach.

Merbach remembered seeing her sparingly astatine the event. They were golfing successful antithetic groups and lone spoke for 30 seconds arsenic they crossed paths during an awards meal successful the clubhouse that evening.

Their little speech ended with Merbach telling Huisentruit: ‘See you successful the morning.’

‘She was a societal butterfly, and she was gathering and greeting and enjoying herself,’ said Merbach.

‘The past idiosyncratic she wanted to speech to was her boss.’

At the event, Huisentruit confided successful 2 golfers that she was readying connected changing her telephone fig the adjacent time due to the fact that she’d been receiving ‘nasty’ and ‘naughty’ calls from an chartless creep, FindJodi.com reported successful 2017.

The golfers, who petition anonymity, said Huisentruit didn’t look overly acrophobic and brushed the calls disconnected arsenic an annoyance that ‘goes with the territory.’

However, 8 months earlier, she had contacted MCPD to study a antheral successful a achromatic pick-up motortruck pursuing her arsenic she made her mode to enactment connected October 8, 1994.

Her household said she was near shaken by the experience. Huisentruit was concisely provided a constabulary escort and started taking self-defense classes.

Aside from the 1994 incident, Huisentruit told friends and her self-defense teacher that she believed she was being followed but nary further incidents were reported to police.

Huisentruit near the play nine astir 8 p.m. and returned home.

She called a person successful Mississippi astatine 8:24 p.m. whose hubby answered. He told constabulary she sounded cheerful and appeared to beryllium her mean self.

Her movements for the remainder of the evening are not clear.

The lone notch successful the timeline came from Vansice, who told constabulary Huisentruit had stopped by his location that evening to ticker a video of a astonishment 27th day he'd thrown for her weeks earlier.

‘We watched the portion and we chuckled, we laughed, we giggled - we hee-hawed,’ Vansice told KIMT successful 1995, insisting thing seemed untoward.

The adjacent morning, Huisentruit was gone.

Vansice was the past idiosyncratic to spot her alive; Kuns was the past idiosyncratic to speech to her.

Several neighbors told investigators they heard a shriek astir 4:30 a.m., but cipher dialed 911.

Another neighbour reported seeing a achromatic Ford Econoline van parked successful beforehand of Huisentruit's apartment, facing the street.

The neighbour couldn’t archer if the motor was moving oregon if anyone was inside, but said the van’s beforehand parking lights were switched on.

‘I saw a achromatic van parked successful the parking area, having gone down that roadworthy galore times, I’d ne'er seen it determination before,’ they told FindJodi.com.

Without A Trace

Merbach's woman woke him sometime aft 7 a.m. that morning: Kuns was connected the phone, and it was urgent.

‘Jodi didn’t amusement up for enactment this morning,’ Kuns told him.

By the clip Merbach made it into the office, the constabulary were already astatine Huisentruit's flat and an probe was underway.

‘You don’t deliberation the worst,’ said Merbach. ‘You deliberation the astir mundane and mean happening has happened... you don’t instantly deliberation of abduction.

‘We sent a newsman implicit determination with a camera, and that’s erstwhile we realized we were dealing with thing overmuch much terrible than an worker not showing up. 

'All of a sudden, it turned into a communicative that became a five-headed monster.’

Huisentruit, who had spent her vocation reporting the news, had present go the headline.

Back successful her autochthonal Minnesota, her 11-year-old niece, Kristen Nathe, was astatine location with her begetter erstwhile the telephone rang.

It was the Mason City Police, and needed to talk with an adult.

Nathe knew her aunt lived successful Mason City, but wasn't initially concerned.

She handed the receiver to her father, and watched arsenic his look turned ashen white.

‘I could archer past that it was thing serious,’ Nathe told Daily Mail.

‘I pressed him, asking him what happened, and helium told maine that my Aunt Jodi was missing.

‘I conscionable couldn’t comprehend what that meant. I knew kids went missing, but I couldn’t recognize an big going missing.'

Nathe was spared the details of the transgression country and forbidden from watching the news.

Soon, the quality came to them, with a horde of TV crews and reporters gathering connected their beforehand lawn.

The hours and days ticked by agonizingly, without answers oregon factual leads.

Nathe inactive struggled to recognize wherefore idiosyncratic would privation to abduct her aunt, and wondered to what end?

She had past spoken to her connected the telephone weeks earlier, wishing her a blessed birthday.

The brace shared an incredibly adjacent bond, and Nathe looked astatine Huisentruit arsenic much of an older sister.

‘She was idiosyncratic who, nary substance who she was talking to, you felt similar you were the astir important idiosyncratic to her astatine that time.

‘Who would privation to wounded idiosyncratic similar that?’

Prime Suspect?

Vansice rapidly landed himself connected the police’s radar by showing up astatine the transgression country and declaring he’d been the past to spot her.

He was softly investigated by MCPD for years but ne'er publically named a suspect.

‘We’re each praying and hoping she’s okay,’ helium told section media wrong hours of her disappearance.

‘And we conscionable person to support praying and hoping and I deliberation she’ll travel back, I truly do.’

Vasince agreed to instrumentality a polygraph trial a week aft Huisentruit vanished - helium passed. He besides voluntarily supplied DNA, and digit and thenar prints.

But it appears investigators person ne'er conclusively ruled him out.

Two expansive juries person reportedly convened successful the past 30 years successful transportation with Huisentruit's case.

Vansice was subpoenaed to look successful beforehand of a expansive assemblage successful Iowa, connected March 2, 2017.

Grand assemblage proceedings are confidential and due to the fact that the jurors did not ballot to indict, the ground for subpoenaing him is not clear.

Around the aforesaid time, a hunt warrant was served connected Vansice, demanding introspection of GPS information connected 2 of his vehicles.

Last month, a justice ordered the affidavit from the search warrant to stay sealed to sphere the integrity of the ongoing investigation, which remains active.

Vansice passed distant successful December 2024, pursuing a conflict with Alzheimer’s.

In a connection issued done backstage researcher Steve Ridge successful 2019, Vansice maintained his innocence and claimed he’d been ‘living successful a suspended hell.’

Those who knew Huisentruit are torn implicit Vansice’s viability arsenic a suspect.

Baker, though, is definite helium wasn’t involved.

She doesn’t retrieve thing successful the clip that she and Huisentruit spent unneurotic with Vansice that strikes her arsenic concerning.

The lone unusual enactment she could callback came 2 weeks earlier the disappearance, erstwhile they were retired drinking and an admirer who recognized Huisentruit approached her.

‘She was dancing with that guy, and helium was being a small touchy feely, and John got a cranky astir that,’ recounted Baker.

‘The feline was being a small forward... truthful [Vansice] got a spot belligerent astir that, but helium wasn’t attacking the feline oregon screaming, helium was conscionable upset astir however guardant helium was being.’

Baker confronted Vansice amid mounting suspicions, asking him straight if helium was involved.

‘After that conversation, I near reasoning helium didn’t person thing to bash with it.

‘He wasn’t idiosyncratic who sat and plotted... if helium wanted to bash thing to her, helium wouldn’t abduct her successful beforehand of her gathering wherever radical knew him due to the fact that it’s overmuch riskier than going into the woods oregon doing thing retired connected his boat.'

Stalker Fears

Huisentruit was declared legally dormant successful 2001.

Baker is convinced that whoever took her person was an obsessed stalker who yet fixated their obsession into a deadly abduction.

She said she often lectured Huisentruit astir her naivety, saying she was excessively consenting to spot the bully successful everyone, which Baker believes whitethorn person played a portion successful her suspected murder.

Baker recalled an brushwood erstwhile the brace were walking to a shot game, and two  men successful a convertible pulled up alongside and asked, ‘Hey, you girls privation a thrust to the game?’

Huisentruit replied ‘sure’ and was already walking towards the car erstwhile Baker reached for her limb and pulled her back.

‘She told maine it was fine, but I said, "No. You don’t cognize these men, thing could happen."

‘And if idiosyncratic approached her astatine 5 successful the greeting connected the time she vanished and told her, "I emotion your show," she wouldn’t person hesitated to speech to that person.'

Nathe and Merbach stock Baker’s suspicions, but neither has ruled retired Vansice.

‘My caput goes backmost and distant betwixt it being idiosyncratic she knew, and idiosyncratic who became obsessed with her from TV,’ said Nathe.

‘I effort not to pigeon spread myself into 1 mode of thinking,’ added Merbach. ‘What I’m fearful of is that it was idiosyncratic from extracurricular the country who was successful municipality concisely and happened to spot her connected TV that has nary transportation to her.

'How would we ever find them?' 

Fears that a crazed spectator whitethorn person killed Huisentruit sent panic rippling done the KIMT newsroom.

Merbach said helium wished helium knew of Huisentruit's stalker fears earlier her disappearance, due to the fact that it whitethorn person changed the mode her colleagues reacted to the concatenation of events that fateful morning.

‘You look backmost astatine everything and think, could I person done this? Could I person done that?... it hurts,' said Merbach.

'End Our Suffering'

This June volition people 30 years since Huisentruit vanished.

Despite the deficiency of leads, Baker, Merbach and Nathe each cling to anticipation that they'll 1 time person answers.

Appealing to the culprit, Nathe asked Huisentruit's abductor to travel guardant and extremity her family’s suffering.

‘Please don’t marque america proceed to person to hold for answers connected wherever Jodi is and what happened to her.

‘We’ve existed successful this nightmare for excessively long, truthful find compassion successful your bosom to assistance america find the bid that we and Jodi desperately need.’

As the hold for answers continues, Nathe takes inspiration from her Aunt Jodi’s ascription to the Optimist Club.

She has a transcript of the Optimist’s Creed printed retired connected her desk, which she reads immoderate clip she feels her anticipation waning.

‘With each the clip that passes, it makes it look little and little apt that we’re going to find Jodi,’ she said.

‘But I effort to stay hopeful and optimistic... due to the fact that that’s what Jodi would’ve wanted.'