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Thirty Years. No Arrest. No Body. No Answers.
If you haven’t listened to or read Part One yet, start there. It covers who Jodi Huisentruit was, the morning she disappeared, the physical evidence left behind in that parking lot, and the context that most people miss — the harassing calls, the white truck, and the phone number she was one day away from changing.
This post covers Part Two: the suspects, the sealed warrant, the bizarre journal subplot, and the development from 2025 that cracked this case back open in a way nobody saw coming.
The Persons of Interest: Where Investigators Have Looked
Over thirty years, the Mason City Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation have examined multiple individuals in connection with Jodi’s disappearance. None have been charged. Several have died. And as of today, the case is still officially open — and still active.
Here is where investigators have looked, and what they found — and didn’t find.
John Vansice: The Man Who Said “She’s Gone”
John Vansice was a Mason City resident, roughly 22 years older than Jodi, who had inserted himself into her social circle in the years before her disappearance. They had overlapping friends. They waterskied together. He threw her a birthday party in early June 1995 and recorded it on video.
He was the last known person to see Jodi alive.
According to Vansice, she came to his apartment the night of June 26 to watch the birthday video, and left around 11 p.m. That’s what he told police.
But a friend who was with Vansice the morning after Jodi disappeared told investigators something that has never fully been explained away. When the two of them met up that morning — before any public details about the scene in the parking lot had been released, before there was any reason to believe this was anything other than a woman who was running late for work — Vansice’s first words were:
“She’s gone.“
Not “I hope she’s okay.” Not “Something must be wrong.” She’s gone. Past tense. Final.
That same friend noticed something else when they returned to Vansice’s place that morning: deep tire tracks at the end of his alley, going in the wrong direction. Like a car had pulled out in a hurry.
There were other inconsistencies. In a separate conversation — not with police, but with that same friend — Vansice described Jodi as having left his apartment *drunk* the night before. That detail never made it into his official account. It raises questions that have never been answered about what actually happened between the time she left his apartment and the time she appeared in that parking lot.
And then there was his behavior in the aftermath. Vansice showed up at the crime scene before police had finished processing it. He gave interviews to 48 Hours within days of Jodi’s disappearance, sitting on his boat, saying she would be back and she just needed patience. His boat, incidentally, was named after Jodi.
He passed a polygraph in the months after her disappearance. He cooperated with investigators — initially. And then, as the years went on and investigators kept circling back to him, he went quiet.
The 2017 Search Warrant
In March 2017 — twenty-two years after Jodi disappeared — Mason City police obtained a search warrant and placed GPS tracking devices on two vehicles connected to Vansice. They tracked his movements from Iowa to Arizona, where he had relocated. Under a grand jury subpoena, he was ordered to return to Iowa and provide DNA, fingerprints, and palm prints to federal authorities.
The warrant was immediately sealed. Whatever the investigators wrote in that affidavit to justify GPS trackers on a man’s vehicles twenty-two years after the fact, a judge determined it was sensitive enough to keep from public view. Vansice’s attorneys tried to have it unsealed. Prosecutors pushed back hard, arguing it would compromise the investigation.
As of this writing, the affidavit remains sealed indefinitely. A small portion of the warrant — essentially just GPS coordinate data showing Vansice’s travel route between Iowa and Arizona — was released in April 2025. The substantive investigative material remains locked away.
Vansice’s Death
John Vansice died on December 6, 2024, in Phoenix, Arizona. He was 78 years old. He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in his later years. He maintained his innocence until the end.
His family published no obituary.
He was never charged with anything related to Jodi’s disappearance.
Tony Jackson: Two Blocks Away
Tony Jackson is a convicted serial rapist who, at the time of Jodi’s disappearance, lived two blocks from the KIMT television studio where she worked. He reportedly frequented some of the same Mason City bars as Jodi and her social circle.
His name came up through a jailhouse tip. After Jackson was imprisoned on his rape convictions, a fellow inmate came forward claiming Jackson had written rap lyrics describing burying a woman near a farm silo in Tiffin, Iowa. In 1998, investigators took the tip seriously enough to search the property with cadaver dogs. They found nothing.
By 1999, the Mason City Police Department issued a formal statement saying Jackson was not considered a viable suspect “at that time.” He was never fully eliminated.
The detail that has stuck with this case for years: while still in prison, Tony Jackson was reportedly overheard saying “Jodi’s dead” — at a point in time when she was still officially classified as a missing person, not a confirmed death. His certainty about her fate, stated before that was public knowledge, has never been satisfactorily explained.
Jackson broke his silence in the 2025 Hulu documentary and stated directly: “I had nothing to do with that case.”
He has not been charged.
Christopher Revak: The Coincidence That Isn’t Easily Dismissed
Christopher Revak is a newer name in the Jodi Huisentruit case — one that has gained attention more recently because of a geographic connection so strange it stops you cold.
Revak died by suicide in a jail cell in 2009 while facing a murder charge. Investigators believe he was responsible for the deaths of at least two women. He cannot speak for himself, and no direct evidence places him in Mason City on June 27, 1995.
But at the time of Jodi’s disappearance, Revak had an ex-girlfriend who lived in Mason City. Specifically — she lived on the other side of John Vansice’s duplex. Right next door. Through the wall.
She had moved out a few months before Jodi disappeared. So Revak wasn’t actively connected to that address. But he had been there. He knew that area. He knew that building.
As recently as late 2024, a Mason City detective met with a Wisconsin sheriff to compare notes and revisit leads connected to Revak. He has not been ruled out. Thirty years later.
The Journal, the Former Police Chief, and the Unanswered Questions
In June 2008, the Mason City Globe Gazette received a package in the mail. Large envelope, no return address, postmarked from Waterloo, Iowa. Inside were photocopies — 84 pages of photocopies of Jodi Huisentruit’s personal journal. The original had been in law enforcement custody since 1995, locked away as evidence in an active investigation.
Someone had made copies and mailed them to a newspaper.
Within days, the sender came forward. Her name was Cheryl Ellingson — the wife of David Ellingson, the former Chief of the Mason City Police Department. Which meant her husband, the man who had led the department, had taken copies of a key evidence item home with him when he left office.
The Mason City Police Department confirmed who the sender was. They offered no explanation for why the former chief had the copies. No charges were filed. No disciplinary action was taken. No one publicly accounted for what was in those pages or why they were considered significant enough to take home.
The journal’s contents have never been fully disclosed. Whatever Jodi wrote in those 84 pages — her thoughts, her fears, the people in her life — remains largely sealed from the public and from the people who want answers most.
In 2016, a retiring Iowa state representative named John Kooiker wrote publicly about the case and suggested a possible coverup by Mason City officials. No formal investigation followed.
Combined with the sealed warrant, the former chief’s behavior, and thirty years without a single arrest, the journal incident has done nothing to quiet questions about the integrity of the early investigation.
Brad Millerbernd: The Van, the Divorce, and the Anniversary Call
This is the development that changed everything. The thread that cracked this case back open in 2025. And it starts with a white van.
Cast your mind back to the parking lot. The white Ford Econoline idling in the dark at 4 a.m. The van that was there when Jodi was taken and gone by the time police arrived. The van nobody got a plate for, nobody identified, the van that just disappeared.
For thirty years, that van was a thread with no end to pull. And then a woman came forward.
Her name is Patty Niemeyer. Patty was Jodi Huisentruit’s childhood best friend. And what she had to say — about her ex-husband — is the kind of thing that makes the floor shift beneath you.
His name is Brad Millerbernd. And Brad Millerbernd owned a white Ford Econoline van.
The Details That Stack Up
Patty Niemeyer told investigators — and later told filmmakers for the Hulu documentary Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit — that throughout their marriage, her ex-husband had what she describes as a fixation on Jodi. He brought her up constantly. Asked what she was doing. Showed an interest that went beyond polite curiosity about a friend’s friend. It bothered Patty. She told herself it was nothing.
Millerbernd lived approximately three hours from Mason City. But according to Patty, and she says she is one hundred percent certain of this, he came to Mason City and met with Jodi in person. He had taken her out once in the fall of 1994. And he called her in the weeks just before she disappeared.
Now here is the detail that investigators describe as “compelling”:
Patty Niemeyer and Brad Millerbernd finalized their divorce on June 23, 1995.
Jodi Huisentruit disappeared on June 27, 1995.
Four days later.
Four days after whatever had been holding him in place — a marriage, an obligation, a life built around someone else — was officially dissolved.
Lead investigator Sgt. Terrance Prochaska, who has worked this case for over a decade, said in the documentary: “Coincidences happen. But this one — there’s a lot stacked up.“
The Anniversary Call
Ten years after Jodi disappeared — on June 27, 2005, the tenth anniversary — Brad Millerbernd called Patty Niemeyer. Out of nowhere. They had been divorced for a decade. There had been no contact between them.
His first words: “Do you realize what day it is?“
There is no innocent version of that phone call. A person with no connection to Jodi’s disappearance does not call their ex-wife on the tenth anniversary of her best friend’s abduction to ask if she knows what day it is. That call is made by someone for whom that date carries specific, personal weight.
The Police Sketch
In 2022, ABC aired a 20/20 special on Jodi’s case called “Gone at Dawn.” Patty watched it. Something clicked. She called the Mason City Police Department and told them about Millerbernd. It was actually the second time she had reached out — she had contacted police in 2017 and the tip was overlooked.
This time, investigators listened. And they showed her something that had never been made public: an unreleased composite sketch, based on witness descriptions of the man seen near Jodi’s apartment complex the morning she disappeared. A man in a hat. Facial hair. Acting strangely near the building.
Patty Niemeyer looked at that sketch.
“I see Brad Millerbernd. That is him to a T.“
His own ex-wife. Looking at an unreleased police sketch she had never seen before. Identifying her ex-husband.
What Investigators Found — And Didn’t Find
Police interviewed Millerbernd for ninety minutes. Prochaska noted that throughout the entire conversation — ninety minutes about the disappearance of a woman he had known — Millerbernd did not ask a single question about the case. No “what happened?” No “do you have any leads?” Nothing. He answered. And appeared, by the investigator’s account, visibly shaken.
He provided his DNA. He took a polygraph. The results have not been publicly disclosed.
In October 2024, investigators searched a wooded property in Winsted, Minnesota — a site adjacent to land Millerbernd had previously owned — looking for human remains. They found only animal bones. The search was inconclusive.
Brad Millerbernd has not been charged. He is a person of interest, not a named suspect. He denied any involvement and declined to appear in the Hulu documentary.
Where Things Stand Now
Jodi Huisentruit was declared legally dead in May 2001. She was 27 years old. Her body has never been found. The case has been officially open and active for thirty years.
The Mason City Police Department maintains that no suspect has been formally identified and no arrest has been made. The sealed 2017 warrant — the one that placed GPS trackers on Vansice’s vehicles — remains largely sealed even after Vansice’s death in December 2024, because the investigation is still ongoing.
The unmatched palm print from the pole near Jodi’s car is still in evidence. Still waiting.
The $100,000 reward — offered by private investigator Steve Ridge — is active through June 27, 2026, the 31st anniversary of Jodi’s disappearance. It does not require an arrest. It requires only information leading to the recovery of her remains.
Someone out there knows what happened in that parking lot on June 27, 1995. Maybe they have been sitting with it their whole adult life. Maybe they are only now starting to understand the weight of what they know.
Jodi deserved to change that phone number. She deserved to walk out of that parking lot. She deserved better than thirty years of questions.
Her family is still waiting.
Listen to Part Two
The full Part Two episode of Dead Air: The Jodi Huisentruit Case is available now on all platforms. We cover every suspect, every theory, every strange subplot — including Laura’s reaction to the anniversary phone call, which is worth the listen alone.
If You Have Information:
Mason City Police Department: 641-421-3636
Iowa DCI Special Agent Ryan Herman: reherman@dps.state.ia.us
A reward of $100,000 is active through June 27, 2026 for information leading to the recovery of Jodi’s remains. An arrest is not required to claim the reward.
Visit FindJodi.com for current details on the reward and the investigation.
Someone knows something.
Also in the Dead Air series:
– Dead Air Part One: Who Was Jodi Huisentruit?
Crime Clueless is hosted by Jenna and Laura. New episodes drop Wednesdays on all major platforms. Follow us @CrimeClueless on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.
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Sources — Dead Air: The Jodi Huisentruit Case (Parts One & Two)
Crime Clueless Podcast | crimeclueless.com
All sources listed in APA 7th edition format. Sources are organized by category for readability. This list covers both Part One and Part Two of the Dead Air episode and companion blog posts.
Documentaries & Television
ABC News Studios & Committee Films. (2022, January 28). Gone at dawn [Television documentary episode]. In 20/20(Season 44, Episode 13). ABC. Watch 20/20 Season 44 Episode 13 Gone at Dawn Online
ABC News Studios & Committee Films. (2025, July 15). Her last broadcast: The abduction of Jodi Huisentruit[Streaming documentary series]. Hulu. Her last broadcast: The abduction of Jodi Huisentruit
Axelrod, J. (Reporter). (2018, December 15). FindJodi [Television documentary episode]. In 48 Hours. CBS News. 48 Hours on CBS
CBS News. (1995). 48 Hours [Television broadcast, original footage]. CBS.
News Articles & Investigative Reporting
Axelrod, J. (2020, July 19). Jodi Huisentruit mystery: The decades-long search for the missing Mason City, Iowa, TV news anchor. CBS News. Jodi Huisentruit mystery: The decades-long search for the missing Mason City, Iowa, TV news anchor
CBS News Minnesota. (2025, March). New evidence could be released in case of missing Iowa news anchor Jodi Huisentruit. CBS Minnesota. New evidence could be released in case of missing Iowa news anchor Jodi Huisentruit – CBS Minnesota
CBS2 Iowa. (2025, April 30). Unsealed warrant reveals new details on Iowa TV anchor Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance. CBS2 Iowa. Unsealed warrant reveals new details on Iowa TV anchor Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance
CBS2 Iowa. (2025, June 27). Jodi Huisentruit missing disappearance 30 years ago. CBS2 Iowa. Iowa news anchor Jodi Huisentruit went missing 30 years ago
CNN. (2025, June 27). Where is Jodi Huisentruit? CNN. Where is Jodi Huisentruit? | CNN
Fox News. (2025, July 16). New person of interest emerges in documentary on decades-old disappearance of Iowa news anchor. Fox News. New person of interest emerges in documentary on decades-old disappearance of Iowa news anchor
KARE11. (2025, June 25). Jodi Huisentruit search continues 30 years on, latest information on case. KARE11. Search continues for Jodi Huisentruit, news anchor who went missing 30 years ago
KTTC. (2024, December 27). Private investigator shares passing of figure once linked with the Jodi Huisentruit investigation. KTTC. Private investigator shares passing of figure once linked with the Jodi Huisentruit investigation
Lowe, C. (Reporter). (2020, July 18). Inside Jodi Huisentruit’s apartment [Video segment]. 48 Hours / WCCO-CBS. Watch 48 Hours: Inside Jodi Huisentruit’s apartment – Full show on CBS
Mastre, B. (2020). Evidence photos in the disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit [Photo gallery with captions]. CBS News. Evidence photos in the disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit
Oxygen.com. (2025, July 18). All about anchorwoman Jodi Huisentruit’s 1995 unsolved disappearance: “Someone knows something.” Oxygen. All About Anchorwoman Jodi Huisentruit’s 1995 Unsolved Disappearance: “Someone Knows Something” | Oxygen
Pieper, M. (2025, March). Judge to decide if search warrant in Huisentruit case will be unsealed. The Gazette. Judge to decide if search warrant in Huisentruit case will be unsealed
Primetimer Staff. (2025, July 17). What happened to Jodi Huisentruit? New details revealed in a Hulu docuseries about a potential suspect. Primetimer. What happened to Jodi Huisentruit? New details revealed in a Hulu docuseries about a potential suspect.
Primetimer Staff. (2025, July 18). What really happened to Jodi Huisentruit that morning in 1995? Here’s why investigators suspect foul play. Primetimer. What really happened to Jodi Huisentruit that morning in 1995? Here’s why investigators suspect foul play.
TV Insider Staff. (2025, July 15). What happened to Jodi Huisentruit? Update on unsolved case in new docuseries. TV Insider. What Happened to Jodi Huisentruit? Update on Unsolved Case in New Docuseries
Cold Case Databases & Advocacy Organizations
FindJodi.com. (2025). John Vansice: An elusive search for official answers. FindJodi. John Vansice: An Elusive Search for Official Answers – Find Jodi Huisentruit
FindJodi.com. (2020). FindJodi podcast and case updates. FindJodi. https://findjodi.com
Iowa Cold Cases. (n.d.). Jodi Sue Huisentruit. Iowa Cold Cases. Jodi Sue Huisentruit | Iowa Cold Cases
Unsolved Mysteries Wiki. (n.d.). Jodi Huisentruit. Fandom Unsolved Mysteries Wiki. Jodi Huisentruit | Unsolved Mysteries Wiki
Unsolved.com. (n.d.). Jodi Huisentruit. Unsolved Mysteries. Jodi Huisentruit – Unsolved Mysteries
Encyclopedia & Reference
Wikipedia contributors. (2026, February 12). Jodi Huisentruit. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Jodi Huisentruit – Wikipedia
Person of Interest Coverage
AOL News / Daily Mail Wire. (2025, July 16). New person of interest revealed in 1995 vanishing of beloved Iowa news anchor. AOL. New person of interest revealed in 1995 vanishing of beloved Iowa news anchor: documentary – AOL
FandomWire. (2025, July 17). Jodi Huisentruit suspects: Hulu documentary identifies third potential suspect. FandomWire. Jodi Huisentruit Suspects: Hulu Documentary Identifies Third Potential Suspect
Movieweb Staff. (2025, July 25). Her last broadcast: The abduction of Jodi Huisentruit mystery explained. Movieweb. What Happened in ‘Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit’?
Moviedelic Staff. (2025, July 15). John Vansice: What happened to the person of interest in Jodi Huisentruit case?Moviedelic. John Vansice: What Happened to the Person of Interest in Jodi Huisentruit Case?
South Texas News / Brenham Banner Press. (2025, December 9). What happened to Jodi Huisentruit? New doc sheds light on her unsolved disappearance. What happened to Jodi Huisentruit?
Sportskeeda. (2025, July 17). 5 chilling details about Jodi Huisentruit’s abduction. Sportskeeda. 5 chilling details about Jodi Huisentruit’s abduction
Y105 Music / Ridge, S. (2025, February). Another development in Jodi Huisentruit’s case involves search warrant. Y105 Music. Another Development in Jodi Huisentruit’s Case Involves Search Warrant
Law Enforcement & Official Statements
Mason City Police Department. (2025). Public statements on the Jodi Huisentruit investigation. City of Mason City, Iowa. Contact: (641) 421-3636.
Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. (2025). Active case — Jodi Sue Huisentruit. Iowa Department of Public Safety. Contact Agent Ryan Herman: reherman@dps.state.ia.us.
Private Investigation & Reward Information
Ridge, S. (2025, December). $100,000 reward — Jodi Huisentruit remains recovery. Steve Ridge Investigations / FindJodi.com. Active through June 27, 2026. https://findjodi.com
Note to readers: All web sources were accessed and verified between December 2024 and April 2026. Some URLs may change over time. For the most current information on the Jodi Huisentruit case, visit FindJodi.com or contact the Mason City Police Department directly.
Crime Clueless makes every effort to verify accuracy across multiple sources. If you identify an error or have additional sourcing to suggest, please reach out to us at crimeclueless.com.
