VANISHED: Jodi Huisentruit (RE-RELEASE)

Summary

Up and Vanished Weekly: VANISHED: Jodi Huisentruit (RE-RELEASE)
Release Date: August 13, 2025
Host/Author: Tenderfoot TV
Duration: Approximately 54 minutes

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Introduction

The episode delves into the enigmatic disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit, a beloved local news anchor from Mason City, Iowa, who vanished on June 27, 1995. As the case approaches its 30-year mark, host Maggie Freeling and Payne Lindsay, along with producer Meredith Steadman, revisit the investigation, uncovering new insights and exploring lingering questions that have kept this mystery alive.

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Background: Jodi Huisentruit's Life and Career

Jodi Huisentruit was a vibrant 27-year-old morning news anchor at KIMT in Mason City, Iowa. Described by friends and colleagues as a "bright light" in the small town, Jodi had recently embarked on her journalism career, mirroring the aspirations of her hosts who also sought to make their mark in the field. Her sudden disappearance left the community and the nation bewildered, given her promising future and cherished presence.

Notable Quote:

Maggie Freeling [02:21]: "Welcome to Up and Vanish Weekly. I'm Maggie Freeling. Today we're talking about a case that I have felt particularly connected to since the first time I heard about it."

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The Morning of Disappearance: June 27, 1995

Jodi's disappearance began subtly. On the morning of June 27, 1995, her usual routine was disrupted. Jodi failed to arrive at the station at her scheduled time, leading her producer, Amy Kunz, to grow increasingly concerned as hours passed without word.

Key Events:

• 2:00 AM: Amy Kunz arrives at KIMT to prepare for the day's broadcast.
• 3:00 AM: Jodi is expected but doesn't show up.
• 4:00 AM: After repeated calls, Jodi apologizes for oversleeping but fails to arrive.
• 6:00 AM: Police conduct a wellness check after two hours of no contact.

At 7:30 AM, authorities discover unsettling evidence near Jodi's red Mazda Miata, including scattered personal items and signs of a struggle, such as a bent car key and drag marks.

Notable Quote:

Maggie Freeling [09:49]: "As an early morning news anchor, Jodi had a strict routine. On days she was on the air, she arrived at the station at 3am preparing for the 6am broadcast."

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Initial Investigation: Evidence and Leads

The initial investigation revealed signs suggestive of foul play but lacked sufficient evidence to pinpoint the perpetrator. Key findings included:

• Scene Evidence:

  • High-heeled shoe, hairdryer, hairbrush, hairspray scattered around.
  • Bent car key and damaged car mirror indicating possible abduction.
  • Pile of beer cans near the parking lot, raising questions about potential witnesses or additional clues.

• Apartment Findings:

  • No signs of forced entry.
  • Used wine glasses and an unusual observation of the toilet seat left up, hinting at possible male presence.

Notable Quote:

Payne Lindsay [14:27]: "It appears to be a crime scene, but we don't know if a crime took place there because I remember feeling like, is there a chance this was staged?"

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Suspects and Theories

1. John Van Cise: A Central Figure

John Van Cise, a friend who hosted Jodi's birthday party weeks before her disappearance, emerged as a person of interest. His behavior and relationship with Jodi raised suspicions:

• Birthday Party Video:
  The video showcased Jodi dancing closely with John, who was significantly older and seemed intensely fixated on her.

• Last Seen Alive:
  John claimed to be the last person to see Jodi alive, a statement that cast a long shadow over his involvement.

• Interaction with the Investigation Team:
  When Payne Lindsay and Meredith Steadman attempted to interview John, he was evasive and hostile, further fueling suspicions.

Notable Quote:

Payne Lindsay [22:36]: "You cannot disregard the fact that he's the last person, by his own admission, to maybe have seen her alive. So I think there's good reason to want those questions to be cleared up."

2. Serial Rapist and Stalker Theories

Jodi had previously reported being followed and attending self-defense classes, indicating she may have been targeted by a stalker or serial rapist.

• White Van Sightings:
  Witnesses reported a white Ford Econoline van near Jodi's apartment on the morning of her disappearance, paralleling her earlier reports of being followed by a similar vehicle.

• Potential Suspects:

  • Tony Jackson: Linked to multiple similar disappearances and a grim prophecy of killing a news anchor, though he was eventually cleared without a concrete alibi.
  • Dirk Jablonski: A stalker who lived near Jodi and attended the same golf tournament on the day before she vanished.

Notable Quote:

Meredith Steadman [30:03]: "Tony Jackson... was eventually cleared by the police. However, it's unclear why he was cleared because he didn't have an alibi for that night."

3. The Drug-Related Theory

A compelling theory connects Jodi's disappearance to her investigation into local methamphetamine operations.

• Billy Pruin's Death:
  Jodi's friend Billy Pruin died from a gunshot wound under suspicious circumstances, initially ruled a suicide but re-evaluated to undetermined due to lack of gunshot residue and Pruin's unique inability to shoot himself properly.

• Dustin Honkin:
  A meth kingpin involved in multiple disappearances, including that of Billy Pruin, who was charged with five murders in 2001. It's posited that Jodi might have unearthed damning information linking her to these criminal activities.

Notable Quote:

Payne Lindsay [42:27]: "Billy was looking into like a meth problem in the Mason City area. There was a theory that Jodi was looking into Billy Pruin's death because she's a journalist and was interested in covering these hard-hitting stories."

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New Developments and Re-Release Insights

The re-release episode introduces a video of Jodi's last birthday party, providing fresh material for analysis. Additionally, new information from an Oxygen Network program hints at undisclosed evidence linking John Van Cise to the case.

• John Van Cise's Response:
  During an attempted interview by Payne and the team, John displayed hostility and refused to cooperate, stating, "The truth will eventually come out."

Notable Quote:

Maggie Freeling [39:30]: "If you think a man doesn't want to talk to you, that makes him guilty."

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Investigation Challenges and Reflections

The team discusses the persistent challenges in solving Jodi's case, primarily due to the absence of a body and the myriad of potential suspects. They highlight issues such as police turnover, lack of physical evidence, and the difficulty in verifying alibis decades later.

Notable Quote:

Payne Lindsay [47:48]: "The problem with this case is I think Mason City, Iowa has had four sheriffs or police department heads since this case happened... They weren't prepared for a case of this magnitude."

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Conclusion: Unresolved Questions and Ongoing Pursuits

Despite extensive investigation and multiple theories, Jodi Huisentruit's disappearance remains unsolved. The hosts emphasize the importance of revisiting cold cases with fresh perspectives and new technologies to uncover the truth. They also call upon listeners to contribute any information they might possess, keeping Jodi's memory alive and the quest for answers ongoing.

Notable Quote:

Amy Kunz [53:22]: "I want to tell Jody's story, which is my story. If I can find a purpose behind all of this and help, even if I just help one person, mission accomplished."

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Call to Action

Listeners are encouraged to provide any information related to Jodi Huisentruit's disappearance through the provided channels:

• Tip Line: 640-1999-1109
• Email: teamindjody.com
• Anonymous Tip: [e-mail]
• Mason City Police Department: 641-421-3636

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Production Credits

Hosts:

• Maggie Freeling
• Payne Lindsay

Production Team:

• Writers: Maggie Freeling, Payne Lindsay, John Street
• Executive Producers: Donald Albright, Maggie Freeling
• Lead Producer: John Street
• Additional Production: Meredith Steadman, Mike Rooney
• Research: Jamie Albright, Celicia Stanton, Carolyn Tallmadge
• Editing and Mixing: Dylan Harrington, Sean Nurney
• Supervising Producer: Tracy Kaplan
• Artwork: Byron McCoy
• Original Music: Makeup and Vanity Set

Special Thanks:
Oren Rosenbaum, the team at UTA, Beck Media and Marketing, and the Nord Group.

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For more episodes and similar content, search Tenderfoot TV on your favorite podcast platform or visit Tenderfoot TV's official website.

Transcript

[Payne Lindsay]

You're listening to a Tenderfoot TV podcast.

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[Maggie Freeling]

Jan Marsalek was a model of German corporate success. It seemed so damn simple for him. Also, it turned out a fraudster. Where does the money come from? That was something that I always was questioning myself. But what if I told you that was the least interesting thing about him? His secret office was less than 500 meters down the road. I often ask myself now, did I know the true Rian at all? Certain things in my life since then.

[Meredith Steadman]

Have gone terribly wrong.

[Payne Lindsay]

I don't know if they followed me to my home.

[Maggie Freeling]

It looks like the ingredients of a really grand spy story because this ties together the Cold War with the new one. Listen to Hot Agent of Chaos wherever you get your podcasts.

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Up and Vanish Weekly is released every Wednesday and brought to you absolutely free, but for one week early access and ad free listening. Subscribe to Tenderfoot plus at tenderfootplus.com or on Apple Podcasts if you're already a subscriber. Thank you for your support.

[Meredith Steadman]

This podcast discusses mature and sensitive content, including descriptions of violence that may be triggering for some audiences. Listener discretion is advised. Hey y'.

[Maggie Freeling]

All.

[Meredith Steadman]

Welcome to up and Vanish Weekly. I'm Maggie Freeling. Today we're talking about a case that I have felt particularly connected to since the first time I heard about it. I started my career in journalism exactly 15 years ago. My first internship was travel writing. Looking back, I was young, probably naive, but I was excited about starting a new chapter in my life and seeing where the road would take me. And I can't help but think that these feelings were probably shared by 27 year old Jody Husentrute, who was working as a local news reporter in Mason City, Iowa. Jody had also recently started her career and she had her whole life ahead of her. But on June 27, 1995, Jody vanished and her disappearance has confounded the nation. In the years since she went missing, people have remembered Jody as a bright light in the small, rural Iowa town she was working in everyone who knew her, loved her. And that's part of what makes her 30 year long disappearance so startling. There are so many good leads in this case. And that's likely why Payne and the up and Vanish team looked into Jody's disappearance a few years back. And Meredith Stedman, one of the producers at Tenderfoot and the host of Rattled and Shook, was one of the people who was with Payne for that journey. So, Meredith, thanks for joining me today to talk about Jodi's case.

[Payne Lindsay]

Thanks, Maggie. I'm honestly really excited to be here.

[Meredith Steadman]

Yeah. So Meredith, I know that you've worked with Payne and the up and Vanish team almost from the beginning, but I'm curious, how did you meet Payne and the team in the first place?

[Payne Lindsay]

Wow. Yeah. So I have been around since the early days. I got into working at Tenderfoot actually when up and Vanished, like kind of first came out. It hadn't really blown up yet. The case hadn't broken. This is season one, Tara Grinstead's case, and I was following it. I'm a writer and I just cold emailed and offered writing assistance. And then Payne needed more help and I just joined the team full time and then I've been here ever since.

[Meredith Steadman]

You also worked with Payne on Jodi's case for the up and Vanished TV series. When you first looked at the overview of the case, what stood out to you about Jodi?

[Payne Lindsay]

Of all the cases that I've worked on since working at Tenderfoot, this is one of the cases that has really stuck with me the most. I think it's because I felt I related to Jodi a bit more maybe than some of the other cases that we have covered. And I think that's because she was this journalist, she's an anchor. She had all these dreams of working in that space and making her way up to the national rankings and being on national tv. And I think I similarly kind of got into this career because I was interested in journalism. When I went to school, that was what I initially tried to study. And I think I just kind of related to her dreams. And it was so scary to think that someone so public facing, with so much promise disappeared like that. And I also felt a sense of kinship with her. So it's kind of stuck with me all these years.

[Meredith Steadman]

Yeah, it's so interesting. Cause that's exactly what stuck out to me.

[Payne Lindsay]

Right.

[Meredith Steadman]

Like the young journalists, like I just was like, yeah, I could see myself going to my 3am public radio shift and like being ambushed is horrifying.

[Payne Lindsay]

Yeah. And there's so many options for who could have done it because she's so public facing and you can see from all the videos of her, she seems like such a light. I can just imagine how in this smaller town she could be an object of fixation for a lot of people. But yeah, the fact that she was doing such a service for the town and was so beloved but then had so many weird interactions with kind of a obsessive men, it just kind of makes me sad. And it really, I think, is another reason that it stuck with me. I just, it, it doesn't seem fair. I know.

[Meredith Steadman]

I completely agree with you. I think about it all the time. So we have a lot to get into. But let's just start with the morning the news broke that Jodi disappeared. Here's pain with how it all unfolded.

[Maggie Freeling]

It's early afternoon on Tuesday, June 27, 1995. As the coolness of morning fades, the news team at KIMT peeks outside a window of the station. A circus of reporters and trucks are gathering and the sun seems to spotlight the frenzy. KIMT is a local news station in Mason City, Iowa, so this type of scene is common. But today is different. There's a notable change in the air as various other news crews circle the station. An unsettling feeling grows amongst the colleagues. They feel a pit in their stomachs. Earlier that day, Jody Husentrut, the station's morning news anchor, didn't show up for work. As the team scrambled to produce the show in her absence, her co workers went from thinking she'd simply overslept to to now fearing something far worse had happened. Over the next few hours, they would learn the shocking reality of what had actually transpired that morning. And Jody, Mason City's beloved morning news anchor, was about to become the day's top story. From Tenderfoot TV in Atlanta, I'm Payne Lindsay.

[Meredith Steadman]

And I'm Maggie Freeling, and you're listening.

[Maggie Freeling]

To up and Vanished Weekly.

[Meredith Steadman]

When you covered this for the TV show, you didn't just retell the story. You guys actually took a real deep dive, retracing steps of the original investigation and following up on investigative leads. Can you tell me a bit about some of the things that you did?

[Payne Lindsay]

We really did try to look into a lot of different angles, some of which I think are more possible, some are just, you know, to cover all bases, to look into every single thing that was mentioned to us. But we really went to that town. We went to Mason City, Iowa, where Jody was the anchor. We went to her, her apartment complex we talked to her co anchor, the woman that was at the station at the time. We even talked to some people that were like anonymous tipsters or people that gave us new information that they tried to give the police prior and felt they weren't heard when they delivered that information. So we really were talking to a lot of people that hadn't spoken in years and years about things that they heard and saw around those days when she disappeared. And if you saw the show towards the end of that episode, Payne actually tried to speak with one of the main persons of interest and it was honestly a pretty interesting interaction.

[Meredith Steadman]

Yeah, and I want to get to that. But first I want to go back and start with the morning that Jodi vanished because we learned some critical information from a really small window of time. Here's Paine with more.

[Maggie Freeling]

As an early morning news anchor, Jody had a strict routine. On days she was on the air, she arrived at the station at 3am preparing for the 6am broadcast. This meant she usually went to bed early the night before. But leading up to her disappearance in the early morning hours of June 27, several details seemed to indicate that her normal routine wasn't followed. Here's what we know. Around 2am that Tuesday, Jodi's producer, Amy Kunz arrived at KIMT. She started the process of preparing the crew for the day's morning segments. Before long, Jody's usual 3am arrival time came and went. It wasn't until 4am when that Amy looked at the clock and realized she hadn't heard from Jody all morning. So she called to check on her. The phone rang and Jody picked up. She was groggy and it was clear that Amy had woke her up. When she realized what happened, Jody apologized, stated she'd overslept and she'd be right in. But a short time later, there was still no word from Jody. Amy tried calling Jodi again, but this time there was no response. This few hour period would later be determined as the window when Jody disappeared. But at that time, Amy couldn't have known that Jody was in danger. She just assumed that Jody had fallen asleep again. The morning rolled on and after two hours of not hearing from Jody, Amy began to grow more concerned. At 6am Someone from the station went to Jodi's apartment to check on her and still no answer. It was at this point they decided to call the Mason City Police Department to perform a wellness check. Police arrive at Jody's apartment complex at 7:30am and immediately find something very out of place next to Jody's red Mazda Miata. They saw different items scattered across the parking lot. Authorities identified a high heeled shoe, a hairdryer, hairbrush, hairspray, and other belongings that looked to have fallen out of a bag. As concerning as the scene looked, they became more alarmed when they found a bent car key. The police noticed that Jodi's car mirror was bent backwards and found what looked like drag marks in the area moving away from her vehicle. At this point, it was shaping up to look like much more than an accident. Police canvassed the area but found no other evidence. They did some knocks on doors in the complex and got some early tips from neighbors. A few residents said they heard voices and potentially screaming in the early morning hours. Authorities also noticed a pile of beer cans in an area of the parking lot that had a clear line of sight to Jody's apartment. Were these mere coincidences or potential clues painting the picture of what happened to Jody? The evidence in the parking lot showed signs of a struggle, but it was not enough to give police a full story. So the investigators shifted their focus to Jody's apartment. While they didn't find anything that pointed to forced entry, they did find some used wine glasses and something interesting in the bathroom. Apart from her normal personal items, authorities noticed that the toilet seat was left up. What's normally a pretty clear sign that a man had been there at some point recently. Suspicions were mounting and it became clear that authorities needed to learn more about who may have interacted with Jodi that morning.

[Meredith Steadman]

So first we need to just talk about the scene. The evidence that the police found at Jody's complex. You have this high heeled shoe. I think it was red, a hairdryer, a hairbrush, hairspray, and a couple other belongings. But it literally looks like a woman was just dragged away from this car. And they do find potential drag marks and a bent key, as if she was going to put it in the door. To me, this seems like clear signs of struggle took place. What do you make on this whole scene?

[Payne Lindsay]

Yeah, I'm glad you phrased it that way. It appears to be a crime scene, but we don't know if a crime took place there because I remember feeling like, is there a chance this was staged? The pictures look almost like a bad student film. But do I think it's likely that the crime took place there, that the abduction took place there? Yes, I do. Because what I've always found super unique about this case is that there's a very clear timeframe for when this took place. This probably happened somewhere between 3, 33 45, like somewhere in there. And it's kind of rare, I think, to have such a really exact timeframe where this probably happened. And if we hadn't had that phone call from Amy, who knows what could have happened? It'd be the whole night would be a possibility. But now we know it's like just this early morning time when she usually would be rushing to her car. So it does seem pretty likely that that's the crime scene. Right.

[Meredith Steadman]

And so there's some red flags that when you start digging come up that maybe there was something going on in Jodie's life. She mentioned she was being followed when she was out running. She was taking self defense classes. And of course back then her number and her address were publicly available.

[Payne Lindsay]

Wow.

[Meredith Steadman]

What do you make of some of this? Do you think there was something going on in her life?

[Payne Lindsay]

Yes, I definitely do. There is the option that this is a random crime of opportunity, and that was definitely explored in our up and Vanished episode about it. But I think also from everything we heard, there were several people that may have been infatuated with Jodi. She'd had a stalker in the recent past before she went missing. I think it's pretty safe to say that though a random crime of opportunity is possible, there is so much evidence pointing towards a crime of passion that I don't think that can be ignored.

[Meredith Steadman]

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[Payne Lindsay]

Oh, I think a lot. I do. And I don't think that only people in the limelight can be obsessed over or stalked. However, I think you're absolutely right. Like Mason City, Iowa, it's not a huge place. And I think you're right. You know, no TikTok, no social media like, no other celebrities live there except for kind of the people on the local news. And I think that she was a really hot commodity in the area. And I'm sure that made people feel a parasocial connection with her. Maybe she was seen as kind of like a trophy, like a goal, if you could, like be friends with her, if you could be in her circle. And I kind of think that a lot of the stories we heard pointed towards that too.

[Meredith Steadman]

Totally. People seem to gravitate towards Jodie and want to be around her. And there's actually a video of a birthday party some friends threw for her weeks before she went missing that showcases this. In the aftermath of her disappearance, this video has received a lot of attention from the public. Here's Payne with more about this.

[Maggie Freeling]

On the evening of June 11, just a few days before she went missing, Jody's friends and co workers threw her a 27th birthday party at a lounge in nearby Clear Lake. Everything was captured on video. You can see red balloons, party hats and streamers. A big banner reading Party Hardy Girl hung above the cake with the figurine topper of a skier, a nod to Jody's love for the outdoors. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, especially Jody. You can see her smiling wide and laughing hard as she dances on the table, singing all of her favorite songs. It seems like the kind of night you'd remember for a long time. But in the video of the party, it also shows Jodi dancing closely with a man. It's a party, so that's not out of place. But you can't help but notice a few odd details. First, there's a significant age difference. Jody turned 27, but the man she was with looked a lot older, about 20 years older. And secondly, the vibe seemed off, like he's much more into Jody than she's into him. So the question became, who is he? His connection to Jody and his interaction with her in the hours leading up to her disappearance will answer several burning questions, but also raise many more.

[Payne Lindsay]

Last night, new information on the case was released in a two hour program on the Oxygen Network.

[Maggie Freeling]

For the first time, the video of Jody Husentruth's last birthday party is made.

[Advertisement Voiceover]

Public as part of up and Vanished, a two hour show airing on the Oxygen Network. The FBI and Mason City police have both told Carol Eva News the video is evidence in the case of the missing news anchor.

[Meredith Steadman]

So I want to talk about this infamous video of Jody dancing at her birthday party with a friend of hers. This man is named John Van Cise. The age difference between the two of them is quite visible. He is older, she is very young. And a lot of people say there's a weird vibe when you study the video.

[Payne Lindsay]

Yeah. Speculation is hard. However, if you're just asking me how I feel, the video is weird. The video is super weird. The whole thing about the video is weird. John Van Cise, the man who threw this party, is hamming it up. I mean, he is like life of the party. They're dancing a lot. He's touching her constantly, picking her up, sweeping her up in his arms, like, you know, bridal style. He's pressing their cheeks together. He's getting on the table and pumping his fists. And there's also a few moments where she's dancing with someone else and he is just like staring at her.

[Meredith Steadman]

I'VE only seen clips of the video. When I see this, I'm like, I don't know. It's a drunk guy having fun. But maybe if I saw more, I would think otherwise.

[Payne Lindsay]

Well, I think what it would be is, like, you'd either be like, oh, they are best friends, or, oh, they're in love, or they're dating, or, oh, my gosh, like, some. He must be some really significant figure in her life. But the thing is that they'd met six months prior. They weren't dating. And at least that's what her friend told us, that they had met, like, six months before. And that's why I'm like, he threw this party. He's, like, clearly pulling out all the stops. And she looks like she's having a lot of fun at the party. Arguably, he almost looks like he's having more fun.

[Meredith Steadman]

Yeah. And he's really important because the night before she went missing, he is allegedly the last person to see her the.

[Payne Lindsay]

Night before Jody went missing. Apparently, John Van Cise, he's the one who said this, said that she came over to his house the night before she went missing and that they watched the videotape together. And on the up and Vanished show, we actually talked to someone who anonymously claimed that the following day when Jodi had gone missing, and it was just starting to be figured out that John Van Cise made some weird comments along the lines of being like, I have the video. Like, I have the video of the birthday. Like, I can prove it. And it almost seemed like he was desperate to. To prove that they had a good connection. Now, that's coming from this anonymous source who I did see in Mason City, Ohio, that I did, like, you know, Payne Donald and I, the whole team, like, met this person. But, you know, we can't verify that. However, I do think now that you, like I'm telling you that it was like they met within six months. It is kind of strange, right? It's like, now that you know that and you've seen the video or at least clips of it, you're like, oh, they seem like they'd be so much closer. The police report initially had kind of gone into just, like, the facts of what they could verify, and that was that that day before she went missing, Jodi had gone to a charity golf tournament, had left around 8pm had gone home. And then there was a phone call to a friend, like, on her call log. And then it's like a question mark until the next morning when she's called from the station. And they're like, jodie, you're late. And she's like, huh? Oh, I'll be right there. And like, that is, like, all that is there on paper from my understanding. And then John Van Cise kind of entered the picture and offered up information that Jody had gone over that night and they had watched the videotape of her birthday party together. Then within the next couple of days, John went on the news and made some strange comments. And one of the comments that he made publicly is that he was the last person to see Jody alive, which is really odd because no one said she was dead. Why would you say you're the last person that saw her alive?

[Meredith Steadman]

Right.

[Payne Lindsay]

You know, she's missing. People at that time still had hope that she would be found.

[Meredith Steadman]

It's also a weird statement to make because you don't know that unless you're the one that did something with her and she's no longer alive. Like, I wouldn't be like, oh, I'm the last one to see that person, even if I say alive or not. Like, how do you know you're the last person to see her?

[Payne Lindsay]

And why would you want to be like, I wouldn't want to be the last person to see anybody.

[Meredith Steadman]

Mm.

[Payne Lindsay]

Even if he is. Has nothing to do with it. It just feels kind of like a possessive remark to make. Like, he just wanted everyone to know that they were very close and that he was the final person that she saw before she went missing. And honestly, like to say that publicly, too. It's like, well, everyone knows it was the night before. Like, I think he kind of had a fixation on making sure people knew that they had a maybe romantic connection or maybe it could turn into that or something like that.

[Meredith Steadman]

Yeah. And I also wanna point out that we don't really know if Jodi went to John's house to watch the video before she disappeared or if he went to her house. This was just his word of what was happening that evening.

[Payne Lindsay]

Unless the police have some other evidence that we haven't seen, I've never heard that was verified. However, in recent years, they got a warrant for GPS information about John Van Cise's car that day. And, like, around Jody's disappearance, they got a warrant to look into that, and they sealed that warrant. So we can't tell what was the information that they had that convinced a judge that they had enough information to go get that GPS information.

[Meredith Steadman]

Wow.

[Payne Lindsay]

And then nothing came out of it. So it's like, presumably they didn't find anything damning but they did have something that was enough to convince a judge to approve the warrant. So that's interesting.

[Meredith Steadman]

Yeah. So I want to get into the discussion of theories with you and pick your brain a bit about what you think happened. One of the theories that we've touched on is that she had a potential stalker. And again, Jodi had mentioned she had been followed when she was out for runs and reported this to authorities. What are your thoughts on her being stalked?

[Payne Lindsay]

The stalking one is interesting. Cause, like, I. I totally believe she was stalked, but I don't know if there's evidence that it was always the same person or if it was the person who may have been in. In the parking lot that morning. Cause there was some alleged report that some. Someone saw, like, a van in the parking lot that morning.

[Meredith Steadman]

I want to just kind of make that connection. So she had alleged being followed by a white van. And then there was a witness who lived on the same street as Jody. He drove past her complex every day. And he said that morning he saw a white Ford Econoline van parked in her apartment complex facing the street. He didn't see a driver or anything. What do you make of that?

[Payne Lindsay]

I think it's very possible that that van in the parking lot that morning was related to. To the crime, especially I think they said that would have been around 4am which kind of fits the time period of when Jody would have been abducted.

[Meredith Steadman]

The police determined that none of the other residents in the apartment complex were registered to a similar van. So it does seem like this van was potentially out of place.

[Payne Lindsay]

Yeah, potentially out of place. Whether it was the same one as when she was jogging? Unsure, but it could have been. It definitely could have been.

[Meredith Steadman]

So some suspect. She may have been a victim of a serial rapist. And there was a couple that were actually active in the area at the time. Tony Jackson had four victims that were similar build and description to Jody. He lived two blocks from the news station. And Thomas Corskadin assaulted multiple women, including one at knifepoint. He did have a van similar to the one seen in the parking lot at the time of her disappearance. And allegedly he was trying to get tickets to an event Jody was planning to attend. Do any of these names ring a bell for you?

[Payne Lindsay]

We definitely looked into that. I think Tony Jackson in particular, the one thing that was kind of weird or I remember about his case, apparently he bought a car the day before she went missing. And also someone in jail the same time that Tony Jackson was in jail for other victims that he had stalked and Raped, said that he told them that he had killed an anchor. Allegedly. Now, can we verify this? No. You know what I mean? It's like that's hearsay from jail. Like it was passed on. Finally got to us as like a tip. It's hard to say because Toni Jackson was interviewed and Tony Jackson said, I never met Jody. Who's intrude. I only know her because of the local news. Tony Jackson was looked into and he was eventually cleared by the police. However, it's unclear why he was cleared because he didn't have an alibi for that night. He apparently stalked people and it doesn't really seem like he was really investigated deeply. So I don't know why they cleared him other than he didn't seem to have a expressly, like deep connection to Jody.

[Meredith Steadman]

Yeah, it's really possible that there's a lot of people that could have hurt Jodie.

[Payne Lindsay]

Yeah. And there was also Dirk Jablonski. He was another man who apparently had a record of stalking women. And he briefly lived in the same apartment building as Jodie and he was at the golf tournament, allegedly that she had been to the day before. And someone we talked to said that they sent in a tip about him, like look into him. And they didn't believe that the police had ever done it.

[Meredith Steadman]

We'll be back after the break.

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[Meredith Steadman]

All right, we're back. So a very strong theory is that Jody could have encountered a stalker or a serial rapist or murderer. But the other leading theory is that John Van Syce may have had something to do with her disappearance. After she went missing, he did a couple media appearances and then he moved to Arizona and that's where you guys found him. So tell me about John Van Cise.

[Payne Lindsay]

This is where we spent a lot of time because there was so much weird about John Van Cise as a person of interest. And I think there's a reason why he still to this day hasn't been cleared by the police publicly. His alibi is that his friend Ladonna, she called him at like 6am to work out or go on a walk with her. And he was really groggy. And so she was like, he was definitely asleep. And he was like, no, no, let's. Yeah, let's work out. She said that she was like, john, you look like hell this morning. And John was like, oh, well, I mean, all I did last night is Jodi came over and we watched the videotape of the party and we had a good time. Okay. Kind of a weird alibi. The alibi is that not at the time she really went missing, but before the cops found out she was gone. At least not at the time I think she went missing because I think she went missing somewhere around 4am that even leaves 5am open, you know, but at 6am ish. He had a friend call him and then they went on a walk and he didn't seem to know anything about it. That's like the alibi. But I don't think that this woman Ladonna was telling the truth. I don't think that they worked out every day together. I don't really know why she would say that. However, I think the. The most likely thing is if they did go on a walk, I actually think there's a possibility that John called Ladonna to work out or go on a walk that morning, not the other way around. And somehow he got her to eventually say that she called first by saying maybe that people would think it was suspicious or like, could she help him out? Like it would help because he's innocent and yada yada. However, like, if they did go on that walk that morning, it still is 6:30, 6:45 or something that she claims they finally met up. And to me, that doesn't really seem like an alibi. Right. That seems hours before. It's before the police got to the crime scene, because I think the police didn't get there until closer to 7:38. I think they were called at like 7:30 in the morning, after the morning news shift had ended.

[Meredith Steadman]

Right. That's what I. You know, we keep saying alibi, but it's pretty clear she went missing sometime around 4am she's late for work, so she's going to be rushing to work. If she had left that area around 4:00am, she would have been at work by 6:00am so she. So he needs an alibi for 4:00am yes.

[Payne Lindsay]

And I guess the only alibi you can have is sleep. And that's fair enough. However, here's the real thing that sticks with me. Amy Kunes was the assistant producer at the Mason City TV station, and she says that that morning, John Van Cise called to ask if Jody was there and can I talk to her that morning, like, early in the morning? I mean, this. That had to be around the same time, supposedly, that he was on this walk with Ladonna. And I believe Amy Kunz, I really do. She was the one that talked to Jodi that morning. Firstly, no reason to lie. Seemed really upset about it and very intense about Jodi's case. She's the last person that we know talked to her. And she says that John Van Cise called sometime after that to ask if Jodi was there and can I talk to her? And then Amy Kuhn said she didn't show up for work this morning. And then he said, well, is she sick? Like, was really kind of insistent about, like, why can't I talk to her? Where is she? And Amy said she thought it was suspicious and she told the police, and she said that she didn't even know if it made it into the official police report.

[Meredith Steadman]

How would he know she was missing?

[Payne Lindsay]

Exactly.

[Meredith Steadman]

Like, why and how? I guess in theory he could have.

[Payne Lindsay]

Well, the thing is that I think Amy was saying that he. He called asking, like, oh, can I speak to Jodi? Not that he knew that she was missing, but Amy said he never called before, to her knowledge, just to talk to Jodi that early in the morning before her news coverage. To me, it sounds like an al. Like you're trying to make an alibi. Like, oh, how would I have known she was missing? I tried to talk to her.

[Meredith Steadman]

Right. A very obvious person of interest.

[Payne Lindsay]

Yeah. And I know, like, obviously you do a lot of, like, wrongful conviction work, and I know there's, like, people zero in on suspects that seem really likely. It happened with Tara Grinstead's case and her boyfriend, too, and I'm sure it caused him a lot of heartache. So I do think it's It. You gotta be sure about these things. However, the stuff that happened with John Van Cuise is really, really, really weird.

[Meredith Steadman]

When you guys recorded the up and Vanished TV show, Payne tried to reach out to John Van Cuys to sit down with him and get his take on what he believed happened to Jody. John ignored the outreach. So Payne and the team flew to Arizona and actually approached John at. I want to play a part of their interaction and get your take on it.

[Maggie Freeling]

He's in the backyard. There he is, right there.

[Meredith Steadman]

Payne. So when Payne shows up at John's house, they spot him in the backyard. Payne's on the sidewalk, public property. And he calls over the gate at John to try and get his attention.

[John Van Cise]

Stay above nothing. Do not bother us. I'm asking.

[Amy Kunz]

Okay.

[Maggie Freeling]

Can I ask you a question before I leave?

[John Van Cise]

Sure you can.

[Maggie Freeling]

Why does he not want to talk?

[John Van Cise]

Because he's.

[Maggie Freeling]

His friend's been helping something he didn't.

[John Van Cise]

Do for 20 years. That's why he told you he does not want to talk to you. Very simple. Okay. And if you think that a man doesn't want to talk to you, that makes him guilty.

[Maggie Freeling]

I didn't say that.

[John Van Cise]

Whatever your ideas are.

[Maggie Freeling]

If you were me, though, and you talked to his good friend who's defending him.

[Payne Lindsay]

Yeah.

[Maggie Freeling]

Who is crying about this, who's really upset. And she encourages me to go talk to him.

[John Van Cise]

I know who it is.

[Maggie Freeling]

What am I supposed to do?

[John Van Cise]

Didn't ask you to talk to him. Okay.

[Maggie Freeling]

How do you know that? Because you talked to ladonna.

[John Van Cise]

I. I know. I found out. Okay? But here's the point. The point is this. This man has been hounded for 20 years. 20 years, understand? Supposition. I'm an innuendo, and he's done. The truth will eventually come out, period. Quote me.

[Maggie Freeling]

How will it come out if no one's talking anymore?

[John Van Cise]

You'll find out.

[Maggie Freeling]

How. Is there evidence that I don't know about? I'm just trying to help John. I really am.

[Meredith Steadman]

John refuses to talk with Payne and starts yelling, cursing at him as Payne gets back in the car.

[Maggie Freeling]

You said she'd come back. She never did. I'll never understand John. I'll never understand.

[Meredith Steadman]

What are your thoughts on this whole scene?

[Payne Lindsay]

Well, I think that there are very logical reasons that John wouldn't want to talk. After years of this case being in the limelight, sometimes the cops can zero in on the wrong person. So that's always a possibility. At the same time, I do think there are a lot of pretty reputable people in Mason City that seem to have strange stories of things John did or said after Jodi went missing. And of course, he's the last person, by his own admission, to maybe have seen her alive. So I think there's good reason to want those questions to be cleared up.

[Meredith Steadman]

What do you think his motive would have been?

[Payne Lindsay]

Well, she did tell someone that she had rejected his ultimate romantic advances, that I think that he wanted them to be together and that she had said, I just want to be friends. And that had happened very shortly before this. There's something to all of the theories here and that's what makes this case so puzzling, truly.

[Meredith Steadman]

Yeah. So I have a theory that I think is pretty good too. So there is this drug theory and I think it's linked to Billy Pruin. So Billy Pruin was a friend of Jody's and he died shortly before she disappeared. And from what I understand, his mom went to his house to look for him back in 1995, and when she found him, he was dead from a gunshot wound and she found a revolver on the ground a few feet away. Initially they said it was suicide, but they never found any gunshot residue or anything on his hands. And the other interesting thing is he's left handed. He doesn't have a thumb on his left hand, so how would he have held the gun? So, you know, to me this seems like a pretty clear homicide, not suicide. So the question is, why would someone kill Billy Pruin?

[Payne Lindsay]

Billy was looking into like a meth problem in the Mason City area. And there was a theory that Jody was looking into Billy Pruin's death because she's a journalist and was interested in covering these like hard hitting stories, actually. And so she was looking into it and there was a theory that basically she might have gotten too far into it and had discovered some of these names. And there's a theory that a couple of those people came after her and kind of disappeared her because she was getting too close to this drug linchpin operation in the area. Originally, his death was ruled a suicide, and then they rolled that back and said undetermined. So they didn't quite say homicide. But I do think rolling back on a suicide determination is a little strange.

[Meredith Steadman]

Yeah, so I think the name that you guys talked about was Dustin Honkin. So he was a person of interest. He was a meth kingpin in the area. He was a person of interest in five disappearances around 1993. And he was actually charged with those five murders in 2001 when they found the bodies. So I think you know, to me, this seems like a really good theory. A journalist friend is what I would consider murdered. And she starts looking into it. At least she thinks it's suspicious and she's looking into it. And maybe she was getting close. Maybe they were like, we can't have her looking into what's going on here. And they got her too.

[Payne Lindsay]

I mean, I think it's something that couldn't be entirely ruled out. You know, when we looked into it, I guess I wondered like, all right, back in the day, there probably would have been a lot of like handwritten notes. Like if she was looking into this, I feel like we would have found a paper trail. But I wonder maybe that was there. And if that was the case, I think I would feel more strongly about the Billy Pruin option, about her looking into like some drug lords and getting too close. I'd actually love to see if there's anything like a paper trail that exists for that option.

[Meredith Steadman]

More of our discussion after a quick break. It's Wednesday. Adams, I see you're trying to distract yourself from your own banal thoughts. Let me help. Here's a recording thing made of my latest root canal.

[Payne Lindsay]

Wednesday Season two is now playing only on Netflix.

[Maggie Freeling]

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[Meredith Steadman]

Of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of networks busy. Taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com.

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Hey, it's John from the up and Vanish team. If you're enjoying this episode, then you should check out the Tenderfoot original series, Culpable now. Fair warning. I helped produce the series, so I may be a little biased, but hear me out. In 2018, my good friend Dennis Cooper came across the case of 21 year old Christian Andreacchio who died under mysterious circumstances in his Meridian, Mississippi apartment after a 45 minute investigation. His death was ruled a suicide despite evidence of potential foul play. Then we investigated the shocking death of Brittany Stikes, a 22 year old pregnant mother who was gunned down on a busy highway in rural Brown County, Ohio. Even after a decade long investigation, her killer is still at Large. The common thread in each of these cases is the looming question of culpability. Where does the blame lie in each of the victims deaths? Listen to all episodes of Culpable seasons one and two, wherever you get your podcasts or binge ad free exclusively on Tenderfoot. Now back to the show.

[Payne Lindsay]

If you had all the resources in.

[Meredith Steadman]

The world, what would be the first thing you did with this case?

[Payne Lindsay]

I think I'd want to see what was in that sealed warrant that the judge approved to see the GPS information related to John Van Cise's car. I'd wanna see all the interviews and I'd wanna know like, did they put Amy Kuhn's statement in there about John Van Cuise calling that morning? Maybe it would help me rule them out more too. But those things are just kind of behind closed doors, so now you're only getting people talking about them, talking about how they had reported it to the police back then. The problem with this case is I think Mason City, Iowa has had like four sheriffs or police department heads, like since this case happened, maybe five. And so, like, with all that turnover, who's really keeping track of the details? I think that they weren't prepared for a case of this magnitude. They thought she was gonna turn up. Then too much time passed and too many hands passed over the case. And now everyone's like, what are we gonna do about it? Everyone's scattered. Some people aren't even alive anymore.

[Meredith Steadman]

That's what gets so frustrating in these cases. The facts after so long just get jumbled.

[Payne Lindsay]

So much hearsay. And it does really jumble it. And you're even like, well, in the police files, is that even the correct thing? Is that even all that was said? Because we heard a lot of people doubting that police got the right accounts down. So I don't know, it's all very hard to do. And as someone said actually in the up and vanished episode about this, it's really hard to solve a case without a body. And I think that's super true because if there was a location, if anything else was found, it would be easier to know who to link that to. But yeah, it's just such a question mark.

[Meredith Steadman]

It is. Meredith, thank you so much for talking with me about this case. There's so much that I learned just from speaking with you and the that you guys did. I really appreciate it.

[Payne Lindsay]

Oh, thanks, Maggie. I mean, you're the queen of deep dive, so I appreciate that. That's a lot coming from you.

[Meredith Steadman]

So if people want to find out More about what you are working on. Where should they go?

[Payne Lindsay]

I mean, I work across a lot of the true crime shows at Tenderfoot, but I'm in the background on a few true crime shows that will be coming out in the next year, I'd say, and then more regularly. I also work on our horror shows, Radio Rental and Rattled and Shook, which is the one that I. So yeah, if you like horror and true horror, you could check out those. And if not, I'll be doing more true crime, so I'll be around.

[Meredith Steadman]

When I decided to cover Jodi's case, I also reached out to Payne to catch up with him and get his thoughts on her investigation. Here's what he had to say.

[Maggie Freeling]

It's just a bizarre mystery to me. I feel like it's a case that should have already been solved by now and it's worth revisiting in hopes to maybe help do that. It just seems odd that it hasn't been solved yet. And so for my curious brain, it just makes me wonder, is it something that the police missed early on? You know, had they always had their suspicions, but there's just not enough physical evidence to actually bring charges and put someone behind bars? My biggest bone to pick with law enforcement when it comes to unsolved missing persons cases that are decades old is just plain and simple. If it's been 20 plus years, clearly whatever methods you're using, whatever leads you've had, whatever you've been doing isn't working right. And so I think it's just common sense to try something different. And, you know, there's always a fear with law enforcement where maybe there's just this one piece of evidence that only the killer could know. And you don't want to put that out there, but you could do that for 100 years and that it never means anything. At a certain point, I think you have to take the risk of releasing that because you don't know what that might do. Maybe that piece of information that only the killer would know, somebody else knows too. And then you find the killer. I think that all these years later, if we're here still talking about it, we gotta try something new here. And if you're withholding information, if you got, you know, the keys to the castle, give them up or tell us that you don't have anything.

[Meredith Steadman]

If Amy Koons had known that the 4am call to Jody would be the last time anyone would speak to her before she vanished, I have no doubt she would have ran from the station. A few years ago, Amy sat down with a local Iowa news station to discuss Jody's disappearance, which is still weighing on her.

[Amy Kunz]

It changed who I am. It has shaped who I have become. For many, many years, I was just really, really afraid of life.

[Meredith Steadman]

It's been decades since Jodi aired her final segment at kimt. In all these years, authorities have been unable to uncover what really happened to her. But those close to Jody, including Amy, continue to be vocal about where they stand on it all.

[Amy Kunz]

My gut says it was somebody she knew, and I think the person thought, if I can't have her, nobody will.

[Meredith Steadman]

What I believe is that there's too many people in this woman's world that could have done this to her, and that is terrifying. Any one of these people we presented could have found a moment to take advantage of a young woman in a vulnerable situation. And now Jody has been gone for almost 30 years. Jody's mom has since passed away, and she never got the closure of knowing what happened to her daughter. But others close to Jodi, like Amy, are keeping her story alive until the truth about what happened in the early morning hours of June 27, 1995, comes out.

[Amy Kunz]

I want to tell Jody's story, which is my story. If I can find a purpose behind all of this and help, even if I just help one person, Mission accomplished.

[Meredith Steadman]

Jodi Husentrute is described as being five'3,110 to 120 pounds, with brown eyes and blonde hair. She has no known identifying marks. She would now be 56 years old. If you have any information about Jodi Husentrut's disappearance, call the Find Jodie tip line at 640-1999-1109 or email teamindjody.com or submit an anonymous [e-mail] or contact the Mason City Police Department at 641-421-3636. Y', all, thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of up and Vanish Weekly. Be sure to tune in next week as we dig into another new case. Until next time.

[Maggie Freeling]

Up and Vanish Weekly is a production of Tenderfoot TV in association with Odyssey. Your hosts are Maggie Freeling and myself, Payne Lindsay. The show is written by Maggie Freeling, myself and John Street. Executive producers are Donald Albright and myself. Lead producer is John Street. Additional production by Meredith Steadman and Mike Rooney. Research for the series by Jamie Albright, Celicia Stanton and Carolyn Tallmadge. Edit and mix by Dylan Harrington and Sean Nurney. Supervising producer is Tracy Kaplan. Artwork by Byron McCoy. Original music by makeup and vanity set. Special thanks to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at uta, Beck Media and Marketing and the Nord Group. For more podcasts like up and Vanish weekly, search Tenderfoot TV on your favorite podcast app, or visit us@Tenderfoot TV. Thanks for listening. In March 2017, police in Ketchikan, Alaska got a worried call and I haven't heard from them, so I'm getting worried. It was about a beloved surgeon, one of just two in town named Eric Garcia. When police officers arrived to check on the doctor, they found him dead on a couch. Is it a suicide? Is it a murder? What is it? From ABC Audio and 2020 Cold Blooded Mystery in Alaska is out now. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.