Naman Shrestha
ABC’s ‘Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit’ is a three-part true crime docuseries that chronicles the 1995 disappearance of a famed 27-year-old news anchor named Jodi Sue Huisentruit. The parking lot indicated signs of a violent abduction, which led the authorities to multiple suspects and persons of interest during the course of the decades-long investigation. The documentary series also features several exclusive interviews with the family, friends, and colleagues of the missing woman, recounting their memories of her and how the disappearance had affected them.
Jodi Sue Huisentruit Was a Popular News Anchor
Born on June 5, 1968, in Browerville, Minnesota, Jodi Sue Huisentruit brightened the lives of Imogene L. “Jane” Huisentruit (née Anderson) and Maurice Nicholas Huisentruit with her bright eyes and infectious smile. Located in Long Prairie, the home of the Huisentruits was packed with the laughter and shenanigans of the three daughters, the youngest of whom was Jodi. Unfortunately, the family patriarch passed away in 1982, when the girls were still young. It naturally affected the family, but they moved on by keeping his memories deep in their hearts. Jodi was an active child growing up and was especially passionate about golf. She put her skills on full display in high school and became part of the golf team. Together, they emerged victorious in the state Class A tournament in 1985 and 1986.
After completing high school, Jodi pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications and Speech Communication at St. Cloud State University and graduated in 1990. Post that, she served as a flight attendant at Northwest Airlines for a while before realizing her true calling lay somewhere else. She followed her heart and kicked off a career in broadcast media as a journalist. Her first stint was in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she served as a Bureau Chief at KGAN, a CBS affiliate in Iowa City. She then made her way back to her home state after securing employment at the ABC affiliate, KSAX in Alexandria. By the time mid-1995 rolled around, Jodi was working at the CBS affiliate KIMT in Mason City in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa.
Jodi Huisentruit Was Reportedly Abducted From Outside Her Residence
On June 27, 1995, Jodi was supposed to arrive at the station at 4 am to perform her duties for the morning show Daybreak. When she didn’t show up at the scheduled time, a producer at KIMT, Amy Kuns, called her up, only to learn that she had overslept and was getting ready to leave for the office. When two hours passed and there was no sign of Jodi anywhere, her coworker covered for her. When the clock struck 7 and they still couldn’t reach her, the staff members grew concerned and reported the issue to the police. When the officers arrived at Jodi’s premises for a welfare check, they noticed signs of a scuffle around a red 1991 Mazda Miata convertible in the lot of her apartment complex.
Upon further inspection, they discovered Jodi’s personal belongings scattered near the vehicle. In particular, the authorities logged in Jodi’s blowdryer, red heels, and a bent car key that was snapped at the lock as evidence. Furthermore, they also found an unidentified palm print on the car. Reportedly, the 27-year-old news anchor didn’t actually own the car but was trying it out before finalizing the purchase. According to reports, no one has seen her since then. Initially, the police divulge her disappearance to be a result of abduction. However, when no new evidence turned up for years and they couldn’t locate her whereabouts, she was officially declared dead in May 2001.
Jodi Sue Huisentruit’s Disappearance Led the Police to Suspect Multiple Individuals
Soon after Jodi Huisentruit vanished under mysterious circumstances, the authorities launched an extensive search for the missing woman. As part of the investigation, they interviewed a few neighbors in the area, all of whom claimed that they had heard screams around 4:30 am on the fateful morning. One of the neighbors also claimed to have seen a white Ford Econoline in the parking lot, facing Jodi’s apartment, around the same time. During the investigation, her friend, John Vansice, told the detectives that he was with her the night before she went missing. As it turned out, she had gone to a golf tournament the day before she disappeared, after which she visited John’s house for a while. This made him a person of interest in the eyes of the law enforcement officers.
When the investigation stalled due to a lack of clues, the Huisentruit family tried to do everything in their power to find Jodi, including hiring the services of private investigators a few months later. Hundreds of volunteers also conducted a thorough search of an area in Cerro Gordo County to look for anything suspicious in May 1996, but it yielded no positive results. After the detectives found no evidence linking John to the disappearance, they focused on another potential suspect, Brad Millerbernd, the former husband of Jodi’s friend, Patty Niemeyer. Moreover, a composite sketch made with the help of a witness closely resembled Brad’s face. But again, there was no direct evidence connecting him to the crime either.
Over the years, the investigators suspected a couple of more individuals to be responsible for Jodi’s sudden disappearance — Tony Jackson, Christopher E. Revak, and Jerry Lynn Byrnes. In the case of Tony, a convicted rapist, the authorities were told by a jailhouse informant that he had admitted to killing Jodi. As per the informant, Tony had also written a rap song, where he left clues as to where he had buried her remains. This led the police to search an area near a silo in Tiffin, Iowa, with the help of cadaver dogs. However, nothing was ever found or proven against Tony. The rapist denied having any connection with Jodi’s disappearance and was later cleared as a person of interest, thanks to DNA evidence. As for Christopher, he was facing a second-degree murder charge in connection with the murder of Renee Williams, but he killed himself in the Douglas County Jail on July 26, 2009.
The Search For Truth Continues Even After Three Decades
Several years later, a non-profit organization called Find Jodi was established to raise awareness about the case and help the authorities with the investigation. More than two decades later, in March 2017, the investigators circled back to the original person of interest, John Vansice. They went through the GPS data for a couple of his vehicles, but didn’t find anything incriminating. A few years later, in December 2024, he passed away. Around the same time, the police got another lead, in the form of an alleged secret boyfriend of Jodi at the time of her disappearance.
As per reports, they had begun seeing each other just more than a week or so before she went missing. The detectives believed that her new relationship had caused jealousy among other suitors, which ultimately led to her disappearance and demise. One of the private investigators told the New York Post, “I believe without a doubt that this relationship was clearly a factor in what happened because this was not a random act of violence, it wasn’t anything like that, it wasn’t a stalker that came out of nowhere.” With Jodi still missing, the investigators are working constantly to get to the bottom of the case. Meanwhile, the reward for providing any information that could lead to the location of Jodi or her remains is $50,000.
Read More: Christopher Revak: What Happened to the Suspected Serial Killer?
