Search warrant to be partially unsealed in cold case of missing Iowa news anchor
A man who moved to Phoenix years after her death, John Vansice, has been named a person of interest
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — An Iowa judge has ruled to partially unseal a search warrant in the cold case investigation of missing Iowa news anchor Jodi Huisentruit.
The main “person of interest,” John Vansice, lived in Phoenix for years before he recently died, and a 2017 search warrant included GPS tracking of two of his vehicles.
Despite some of the files being unsealed, what they aren’t releasing may give the most insight into the case.
It was June 1995 when Jodi Huisentruit disappeared while heading out for her morning news anchor shift in Mason City, Iowa.
Based on evidence at the scene, she was seemingly abducted outside her apartment as she was heading to work.
It was bizarre when investigators filed a search warrant 22 years later for two cars belonging to John Vansice, a “friend” who last saw Jodi alive before she vanished.
Vansice told investigators Jodi had come to his home the night before to watch a birthday video he made for her.
Vansice moved to Phoenix years later and was named a “person of interest” in the case.
The search warrant was to put GPS tracking devices on two of Vansice’s cars as he prepared to travel from Arizona to Iowa, cars that didn’t exist at the time of Jodi’s disappearance.
“We know Vansice was subpoenaed by a federal grand jury at that same time to come back to Iowa to provide fingerprints, palm prints, DNA, things he could have done, mind you, in Phoenix, but they brought him back there. So, was this some kind of attempt to observe him? We don’t know,” said Caroline Lowe, an investigative journalist with the “Find Jodi” team.
Jodi’s family wanted to keep the search warrant sealed, fearing that releasing the information could compromise the investigation. The Iowa judge ordered the file only partially unsealed, stopping short of letting the public see an affidavit that would describe exactly what investigators have in the cold case.
“Keep going back to day one. What was said? What was observed? What was found at the scene? There must be things that we just don’t know,” said Lowe. Detectives and the State said just because Vansice is dead does not mean this investigation is any less active.
With the judge unsealing parts of the search warrant soon, we may learn a bit more, but likely not enough to solve the case unless new information comes to light.
“Everyone involved in this needs answers, but particularly Jodi’s family,” said Lowe.
The Mason City, Iowa, police chief has gone on record saying nothing substantial came from those car search warrants but didn’t confirm why they sought them in the first place.
The judge’s orders say the partial unseal will be available in 31 days.
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