Naman Shrestha
When the renowned news anchor, Jodi Sue Huisentruit, went missing from outside her Iowa apartment in the summer of 1995, the entire community became concerned about her well-being and participated in the extensive search launched by the authorities. Over the course of the investigation, the detectives shortlisted a few persons of interest. One of them was Jodi’s close friend, a Mason City, Iowa, resident named Arthur John Vansice. ABC’s ‘Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit’ is a three-part true crime docuseries that sheds light on the entire case and the decades-long investigation that followed. The documentary series also explores how and why Vansice was considered linked to the disappearance.
John Vansice Was Repeatedly Questioned in His Friend Jodi’s Disappearance
Born on February 19, 1946, in Iowa, to Arthur John Vansice Sr. and Lorine Barnes Vansice, Arthur John Vansice Jr. was raised alongside his beloved sister, Marlene Vansice Moorman, with whom he seemingly shared a close-knit bond. As per reports, he completed his education by graduating from William Penn College. By 1969, he had met the love of his life, Rowena Lorraine Rice, and on February 8 of the same year, the loving couple tied the knot. They entered the next phase of their relationship and began living in Oskaloosa, Iowa. While Vansice was employed at Ideal Manufacturing Co., Rowena worked at Mahaska Bottling Co.
The former seed salesman became a close friend to the famed news anchor, Jodi Sue Huisentruit, who suddenly vanished from outside her apartment building in Mason City, Iowa, in the early hours of June 27, 1995. Although he was a couple of decades older than her, the two friends shared several common hobbies and interests, such as waterskiing and boating. As it turned out, the previous night, she had reportedly visited Vansice at his house, where they watched a recorded video of a surprise birthday party that he and another friend named Ani Kruse had arranged for Jodi.
While the authorities were searching for Jodi, Vansice told them that he was one of the last persons to see her alive the night before she disappeared. That made him a person of interest in the case, leading to the detectives questioning him on a few occasions. Despite being under scrutiny, he fully cooperated with the investigators and maintained that he had no involvement in her disappearance. A few months after Jodi’s sudden vanishing, Vansice also passed a polygraph test, but he was still considered a person of interest by the police.
John Vansice Passed Away in Arizona in 2024
With John Vansice yet to be eliminated as a person of interest, the police focused on him as the investigation regained momentum. As per reports, sometime after Valentine’s Day 2017, he moved to Arizona, from where he drove to Iowa. That same March, the Mason City Police Department obtained a search warrant for a couple of his vehicles as the authorities sought the GPS data of his cars, a 1999 Honda Civic and a 2013 GMC SUV. However, the warrant remained sealed because the information could compromise the rest of the investigation.
Over the years, Vancise had sadly developed an aggressive case of Alzheimer’s disease. On December 6, 2024, Arthur John Vansice met his demise at the age of 78 in Phoenix, Arizona. Until his death, he maintained his innocence and claimed that he had nothing to do with Jodi’s disappearance and murder. After his passing, his family asked for the sealed warrant to be revealed in order to get his name cleared from the murder case of Jodi. However, Jodi’s family objected to their request as they thought the unsealing of the warrant could impact the investigation.
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