IA IA - Jodi Huisentruit, 27, Mason City, 27 June 1995 - Anchorwoman

[mnegri1973]

I wanted to watch that but I don't have cable. I take those shows with a grain of salt because they are usually biased one way or another. From the little I know I can see the motive for her, but they've been interviewing her for years and didn't have enough. Unless they have new DNA evidence I would have a hard time convicting her if I was on a jury. Even one of the victim's family members didn't believe she was guilty from what I heard (I don't know that for a fact). It just seems like she is one of several possible suspects, and there was pressure to solve the case because of the anniversary of the murders, but then I really don't know any of that for fact.

I grew up just outside of Newton. I've never had any doubt that Terri is guilty. The only family members that I know of that think she is innocent are her children and some of her family. As far as the Fischer's and the Gregory's, they have always believed Terri did it. She's a real piece of work.

As for the assumptions made by Beth Bednar in Dead-Air, Vansice had no connection to the Copper Dollar Ranch or the murders. Beth latched on to the Vansice band wagon trying to say he did both crimes. Don't get me wrong, he is creepy and I think he is the reason Jodi is gone but he had nothing to do with Steven and Melisa's murders.

The funny thing is tho, Terri got all caught up with Beth and her theory about Vansice which made her talk herself into a corner, IMO. Terri got caught in her own lies.

It is funny tho how people have weird connections to cases. My Aunt lives in Long Prairie, MN where Jodi is from. When she married her ex-husband, I was a junior bridesmaid and Jodi's family was at the wedding. And with the Copper Dollar Murders, I know friends and family of the victims and several of the LE who have worked the case over the years. I worked as a teen with the wife of the Jasper County Sheriff, Sheriff Wheeler, who was sheriff at the time of the murders. I also had friends who ran in the same crowd as Vansice's kids.

Sometimes it really is a small world.

~Mel


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[neverletgo]

I watched the 20/20 episode, 'Vanished', again yesterday that profiled Jodi's case. I vaguely remember seeing the original in 2000 and this 2005 update when it aired originally. Lt. Frank Stearns, Jodi's sister JoAnn, and several of Jodi's former co-workers are interviewed. Here is a link for anyone who hasn't seen it yet or anyone such as myself that hasn't seen it in awhile:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vracvbQmwdE

 

[lindamichelle1]

Such a baffling case. I was hoping there would be a update, cant believe its been nearly 20 years and no one ever gave a decent lead to find her.

 

[amber1]

Jodi's disappearance is very frustrating! I've always felt like the answer was just within reach, and that it was someone in her own community who took her. She cannot be far from the site of her abduction. Iowa has many places and fields to easily hide a body since it's s state with cornfield after cornfield.

 

[aliensporebomb]

Raging Ranter,
I have always thought the same thing. Just how far did this guy take his obsession with Jodi? On her episode of Disappeared, he was described as a party/play boy, who had great interest in Jodi, but was always "friend-zoned" by her. She only wanted friendship, not a relationship, because she had bigger dreams of working at a bigger news place. Maybe getting turned down after being used to getting what he wanted got to him? How far would someone go to get something they can't have? Or someone they can't have?

Maybe the argument was around "I'm going to get out of this small town and go to a bigger one, I've got big dreams and they don't include this town, this job or YOU." That would probably set the guy off.

 

[amber1]

The documentary I watched of her disappearance talked about Jodi's dreams to work at a larger news station in the cities. It does not seem she was looking for anything to tie her down to where she currently was. She had big dreams, and she was getting there step by step.

 

[neverletgo]

Sadly, Jodi's mother passed away last week at age 91.

Snipped:

Unfortunately, Huisentruit died not knowing what happened to her daughter.

http://wjon.com/jodi-huisentruits-mother-dies-without-answers-in-daughters-disappearance/

Here is her obituary as well:

http://wjon.com/imogene-l-jane-huisentruit-91-long-prairie/

Very sad. :cry:

 

[Richard]

Jodi Huisentruit, 27, Missing 27 June 1995 from Mason City, IA

This June 2015 will mark 20 years since Jodi went missing...

-----------------------

When she went missing, Minnesota native Jodi was twenty-seven, with a bright future ahead of her. She was a prominent journalist in the Mason City area and had landed a job anchoring a morning news show. On the morning she vanished, police found her belongings scattered across the parking lot of her apartment complex. She never made it in to work that day.

After years of searching for clues that could help police piece together what happened that morning, Jodi, who would have turned forty-six last June (2014), was declared legally dead in 2001. Her family has never held a funeral, instead opting to host Jodi’s Network of Hope, an annual golf tournament held in her hometown of Long Prairie, Minnesota, where Jodi was once a state championship golfer.

Although the case went cold years ago, recent developments and renewed public interest have reinvigorated search efforts. As local NBC affiliate KARE reported in June 2013, a group of law enforcement officials and journalists came together to found a website where they are able to compile all of the publically available information in one central location.

FindJodi.com was the brainchild of veteran journalist and state certified death scene investigator, Gary Peterson, as well as Miami morning TV anchor, Josh Benson. When he spoke to KARE, Peterson was optimistic about the progress they’ve been able to make with regard to the investigation: “We have been all over the state of Iowa following up leads and I think that we are very close.”

Jay Alberio, a retired Woodbury Police Commander joined the group in 2013 after he left the police force. He first became interested in the case in the late 1990s when he arrested Tony Jackson, a serial rapist who was in the Mason City area around the same time Jodi went missing. Although Jackson has never officially been named a person of interest in Jodi’s case and has maintained his innocence, Alberio believes that he should be further examined.

Lt. Frank Sterns is the only person who remains with the department from the original team tasked with investigating Jodi’s disappearance in 1995. Lt. Sterns, along with the rest of the Mason City police force welcome the help from FindJodi.com but urge the public to contact them directly at (641) 421-3636 with any information that could lead to a break in the case...

More info and photo at link below.

Source:

COLD CASE SPOTLIGHT: Jodi Huisentruit - NBC News October 2014

LINK:

http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/cold-case-spotlight-jodi-huisentruit-n215766

http://FindJodi.com

 

[Ozoner]

I don't think any true party/play boys obsess on any woman, almost by definition. Perhaps he was just a wannabe party/play boy trying to play the role for his own image.

It seems like Vansice had a crush on her, but that doesn't mean he abducted her. She was apparently still on good terms with him as recently as the night before she disappeared. Since he still had access to her, it's debatable whether he would have had a motive to kill her, even if he was obsessed. I haven't read anything about any ex-boyfriends in any of the articles I've read, but someone she jilted months or years before could have been harboring a grudge. Such a person could have been jealous of the time she was spending with Vansice. I have not read the book that was written about the case, so some of these items may have been addressed, but these are the questions I have:
1) Did she have any exes who cannot be cleared based on a solid alibi?
2) Vansice apparently had a son who must have been close to Jodi's age. Has he been cleared? He may have become enraged over the fact that his father was infatuated with a young woman. Maybe he wanted to punish his father for divorcing his mother—or maybe he became obsessed with Jodi himself.
3) Vansice's son apparently lived in a pretty nice house, where the group spent their water-skiing weekend, despite only being in his 20s. What was his source of income? If his gains were ill gotten, maybe Jodi learned something hazardous to her health when she spent the weekend at his house.
4) In "The Huisentruit File," which I watched on YouTube, Jodi's sister mentions receiving an anonymous letter stating that the man who lived in the gray house north of Jodi's apartment complex was obsessed with Jodi. The sister investigated and learned that the man was dead. Did he die before or after Jodi's disappearance? What was his cause of death? Was it suicide?

 

[dorkeemn]

Ozoner - I was kind of thinking the same thing about the son or the dad. Here's my thoughts:
1) someone had came to her apartment the night before and was pounding on her door demanding to be let in. Was it JV's son?
2) someone likely a male who drank a different beer than Jodi was in the apartment either the night before or Sunday when she got back from water skiing (Police found her toilet seat up and empty beer cans draining in the sink - IA is a deposit state and the recycling places want the cans drained and dry - two where her (Jodi's) brand of choice and two were not)
3) is it possible that she went out to her car, was attacked - and taken to a waiting vehicle - when who ever was in her apartment came out - saw what happened and had a confrontation with the attacker? That alone would explain the two MALE voices heard yelling in the parking lot.
4) that would / could also explain the less credible report that 2 vehicles exited the lot - and one went one way and the other the opposite

It could have been a) kid jealous of relationship with someone close to his age or b) dad jealous of relationship w/kid - since JH had apparently put him in the "Friend" zone.

Either way it is an interesting theory... one which i wonder if the PI who passed away was working on. Since in his interview on youtube - he specifically mentions the brand of beer and says he "knows who likes that brand"

 

[Jennibee]

I had never heard about two male voices being heard. Interesting.

I still feel JV is at the centre of this mystery. He acted very strangely afterwards and I think he was obsessed with Jodi IMO.

Of course all JMO.


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[Cincinnati Kid]

I just watched a re-run of the 20/20 story today on cable. In that program, it was mentioned that when Jodi first felt she had been followed, she took some self-defense courses at a local business. Just wondering if law enforcement ever questioned the people who worked there or were there at the time Jodi was? I don't necessarily mean the owner/operator so much as others who may have been working there or also taking a course there at the same time she was present.

 

[Ozoner]

2) someone likely a male who drank a different beer than Jodi was in the apartment either the night before or Sunday when she got back from water skiing (Police found her toilet seat up and empty beer cans draining in the sink . . . two where her (Jodi's) brand of choice and two were not)
3) is it possible that she went out to her car, was attacked - and taken to a waiting vehicle - when who ever was in her apartment came out - saw what happened and had a confrontation with the attacker? That alone would explain the two MALE voices heard yelling in the parking lot.
4) that would / could also explain the less credible report that 2 vehicles exited the lot - and one went one way and the other the opposite

It could have been a) kid jealous of relationship with someone close to his age or b) dad jealous of relationship w/kid - since JH had apparently put him in the "Friend" zone.

Either way it is an interesting theory... one which i wonder if the PI who passed away was working on. Since in his interview on youtube - he specifically mentions the brand of beer and says he "knows who likes that brand"

I saw the same interview you mentioned. I hope that guy handed all of his information off to someone before he died.

I try not to make any assumptions—for instance, it's possible Jodi had the toilet seat up because she felt ill, it's possible the beer cans had been there for a few days, etc.

I think the father/son angle is just one thing that needs to be looked at more thoroughly. That water-skiing weekend could have sparked some kind of love triangle. Not only that, but if John didn't kill Jodi, but strongly suspected his own son, that could explain his strange behavior. John came under close scrutiny shortly after her disappearance; it's difficult to believe he could have covered his tracks that well that quickly. The police should have found plenty of forensic evidence if there had been any to find. (Maybe they did find some but withheld it from the press.)

Another thing that could explain John's odd behavior is the possibility that he didn't kill Jodi himself but was indirectly responsible. For example, if he was involved in something illegal, like drugs or a numbers racket, and Jodi found out something that she then blabbed—or even if there were concerns that she might blab—someone might have decided she needed to be out of the way. John and his son both seemed to be living fairly well; we really need to determine what their sources of income were and whether either of them had ties to organized crime. Some elements of this crime—like the fact that Jodi had been tailed previously by one vehicle (a black truck) but likely taken in another (a van); that fact that someone saw that van parked and waiting for her, probably waiting for quite a while since she left later that usual; and the fact that the crime happened just before dawn—suggest a carefully planned abduction, maybe even a professional job.

We know that a witness heard Jodi call out a man's name shortly before she disappeared; some people assume that name belonged to her attacker, but we don't even know that for certain. It's possible Jodi spent the night with a man who left when Jodi's wake-up call came from the station. If Jodi then caught a glimpse of someone lurking in the shadows, she might have assumed it was her paramour and called out his name—but she might have been mistaken. It's possible that someone who was lying in wait for her watched for the other man to leave and then immediately abducted her.

 

[Jennibee]

The toilet seat has never screamed suspicious to me. If I'm cleaning it or putting bleach down it I would lift the seat up. Granted I'd put it back down again but she was running late so maybe that explains why she didn't,


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[Cincinnati Kid]

If someone did spend that last night with Jodi, I assume he has never come forward because he knows he would become a prime suspect in her disappearance. However if he actually was not involved and really cared for Jodi, you tend to think he might come forward especially after 20 years. I wonder if Jodi ever confided to anyone (sister, co-worker, etc.) anything about this person who stayed there? I tend to think the night before she disappeared would not have been the first time he did so.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

If someone did spend that last night with Jodi, I assume he has never come forward because he knows he would become a prime suspect in her disappearance. However if he actually was not involved and really cared for Jodi, you tend to think he might come forward especially after 20 years. I wonder if Jodi ever confided to anyone (sister, co-worker, etc.) anything about anyone staying there? If there was, I tend to think the night before she disappeared would not have been the first time he did so. Did authorities ever find any DNA or other evidence of anyone besides Jodi when they checked the rooms where she resided?

 

[jane_tennison]

Probably because it's been thoroughly discredited as payback from a disgruntled, fired, crackpot employee.

I didn't hear of that

 

[jane_tennison]

I'm telling you, law enforcement must have some [negative] involvement

 

[kemo]

Can anyone think of a case where someone was with another person who was soon to become a murder victim ( or disappear) but left that person's presence while they were alive and well yet did not come forward with that information? I can't think of anything more suspicious than failing to come forward. I can think of situations where married men having affairs have come forwards.

If any guy spent the night in her apt, there would be the abductor.

It is pretty hard to spend the night in an apartment and not leave fingerprints. I am not aware that there were any unidentified prints found in the apt.

 

[Ozoner]

Can anyone think of a case where someone was with another person who was soon to become a murder victim ( or disappear) but left that person's presence while they were alive and well yet did not come forward with that information? I can't think of anything more suspicious than failing to come forward. I can think of situations where married men having affairs have come forwards.

If any guy spent the night in her apt, there would be the abductor.

The first case that comes to mind is that of Chandra Levy. Gary Condit was not necessarily the last person to see her, but he was involved with her yet did not come forward when she disappeared. A very narcissistic person could easily be the last person (besides the killer) to see a murder victim yet not come forward for reasons of self-preservation. Even a non-narcissist might be afraid to come forward under certain circumstances, for instance if the person knew it was an organized-crime hit and feared being the next one targeted.