Was popular Iowa television news anchor Jodi Huisentruit stalked prior to her disappearance almost 26 years ago?
If so, did a stalker become Jodi’s abductor on the early morning of June 27, 1995?
In our latest podcast episode, FindJodi’s Caroline Lowe and I explore what is known about a possible stalking element in Jodi’s case.
Listen to “Was Jodi Being Stalked?” on Spreaker.
Police have considered it likely that whomever took Jodi had stalked her previously, according to friends close to Jodi who were interviewed by investigators in 1995.
As the years passed, some investigators seemed to back away from possibility that an obsessed viewer or stranger abducted her.
Lt. Frank Stearns of the Mason City Police Department has indicated in media interviews that Jodi’s abductor was most likely someone she knew.
“An obsessive fan, would they wait around an extra hour hiding behind a garbage dumpster and possibly being seen? I don’t feel they would,” Lt. Stearns, now retired, told HLN in 2011. “We’ve got nothing showing there was a stalker; no gifts, no cards, no phone calls.”
But there are indications that Jodi may have been stalked in the months prior to her disappearance.
On the evening on October 8, 1994, Jodi contacted the Mason City Police Department after she was followed by a small, white pick-up truck. The incident report generated from the call was obtained and published by FindJodi in September 2020.
That was the only time Jodi ever called MCPD for assistance, according to existing police records.
On June 26, 1995, the day before Jodi disappeared, she spent several hours participating in a Mason City Chamber of Commerce golf tournament and awards dinner. Two members of her golf team told Caroline Lowe that Jodi said she planned to change her phone number the next day because she had been getting “nasty” and “naughty” calls.
To our knowledge, nobody has been identified in connection with any of the possible stalking incidents.
Anyone with information on Jodi’s case can reach out to the Mason City Police Department at (641) 421-3636. Information can also be provided to the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations at (515) 725-6010 or dciinfo@dps.state.ia.us.
You can anonymously contact the FindJodi team here.
Subscribe to the FindJodi Podcast for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
24 Comments
Amy Kuns has said that when she called Jodi that morning she had woke her up. I sometimes wonder if maybe Jodi had never gone to sleep that night and only pretended that was the situation. I know I’ve heard theories that maybe she wasn’t alone in her apartment that night. Maybe a long conversation with someone happened that night and that person left at the same time as Jodi and decided to abduct her. I think about that possible scenario because I agree that a stalker might have given up waiting considering she was running late.
The beer cans seen in the parking lot and behind one of the apartment buildings mentioned by three people reminded me of the beer cans that were observed draining in Jodi’s sink the morning of her abduction. Could there be a connection?
In terms of stalking this episode points out, importantly, that you can be stalked by someone you know. I think women — and men, they can be victims of it, too — but especially women need more literacy around the subject of stalking and unhealthy behaviors in a relationship. Having even a basic sense of it can help to identify some red flags. I think there are red flags in the statements of a person of interest in this case. I do wonder if the reason for that particular morning being the morning Jodi was abducted had to do with an escalation; at the point that someone is told no, their behavior can escalate. I think Mike D. from this forum laid out a plausible scenario in his comment following the previous episode: drinking, maybe waiting in the parking lot all night, perhaps impeded from leaving by a breathalyzer. As well as per his comment above: maybe a long conversation took place in her apartment.
As this episode also points out, Jodi could have had more than one stalker. What would make one of them take action? Are there red flags that someone in the community observed at that time in persons who have not yet been identified as persons of interest?
I feel like too many things have been just assumed over the years. We don’t know if Jodi really did go to John’s that night to watch the birthday tape. We don’t know if Amy Kuns really woke her up, or if she just pretended because it was easier than saying what really caused her to be late. We don’t know if she really walked to her Miata alone that morning. I would love to know if John really did have a breathalyzer device required in his vehicle(s) in June of 1995 or if this is just some rumor that started at some point.
I had not heard of the breathalyzer device prior to your comment on episode 9, but interestingly I have come across a reference to it since, which stated that Vansice did have a breathalyzer device in his vehicle. I’m not sure where I saw it. I’m thinking it’s in Beth Bednar’s book Dead Air, which I read for the first time recently and if I can locate the reference I will post it here. Bednar’s book does support what you’ve heard about someone being in Jodi’s apartment that night. Here’s the reference: “During a press conference, police spokesman Ron Vandeweerd commented that police had reason to believe “it all started her in her apartment,” and this reason was related to the belief that Jodi had a man in her apartment the night before her disappearance. Reliable sources confirm that police had made a startling discovery in Jodi’s apartment the morning she disappeared, although the department had kept the finding quiet, choosing not to reveal what might have been a critical clue to the media and the public. What did officers see? The toilet seat in Jodi’s bathroom was raised.” (Dead Air, p. 28). That fact itself has since garnered different theories but it looks like at the time the police did not conclude that it might have been left up by one of their own investigators using the bathroom but instead was a discovery by them.
Bednar’s book also discusses the memory by one of the apartment residents that “it was not uncommon” to see Vansice sitting in his parked car outside of the Key Apartments in the “wee hours of the morning.” Also, although she is not mentioned by name the story of the morning walk with LaDonna Woodford is vastly different in Bednar’s book than in more recent accounts such as the account on Up and Vanished. Bednar’s book says that Vansice called the morning of the abduction to tell her he could not meet her for the morning walk and he gave no explanation. What is the story with these two completely different accounts of the morning walk?
John V also use to live in the same apartment complex as Jodi. However, this is new information to me that one of the apartment residents said “it was not uncommon” to see Vansice sitting in his parked car outside of the Key Apartments in the “wee hours of the morning.” Really? This would be stalking or “watching over Jodi” as John V referred to in an interview. And John V named his boat after Jodi? Perhaps Lt. Frank Stearns should have paid more attention to these very important details if in fact they are true. And John V was an alcoholic, jealous of Jodi at parties and keeping an “eagle eye” on her.
Good point, KAP. “Bednar’s book says that Vansice called the morning of the abduction to tell her he could not meet her for the morning walk and he gave no explanation. What is the story with these two completely different accounts of the morning walk?”. Often, friends will stick up for each other.
Paris, true — friends do stick up for each other and it can be difficult to accept that there may be another side to the person that they feel they know so well. I do think that these two accounts need to be reconciled and/or explained, as in the Up and Vanished podcast she is adamant that she walked with John that morning and that her account of the timeline and events is true and everyone else is mistaken. And when she says “John talked about Jodi like I’m protecting her,” she doesn’t seem to realize that’s not necessarily a good thing.
I found the breathalyzer reference. It’s from the show 48 Hours:
“48 Hours has learned Jodi befriended [Vansice] during what seems to have been a turbulent time in his life. There was his recent divorce, and he’d been ordered to install a Breathalyzer device in his van. He had a series of arrests related to drunken driving.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/find-jodi-huisentruit-decades-long-search-for-the-missing-mason-city-iowa-tv-news-anchor/
Good points, Mike. But my question is, what does a breathalyzer have to do with anything, other than John V was an alcoholic and he was arrested for a DUI? We already know Jodi and John V hung out at bars together. After all, that’s where her birthday party was at, a bar.
I hope Mike D. doesn’t mind me jumping in here but I brought up the breathalyzer, which he had first mentioned following the last podcast episode. I believe his point was that John V could have driven to Jodi’s apartment, had some drinks either in her apartment or outside in the parking lot and then ended up sitting/sleeping in his vehicle in the parking lot because he couldn’t start it immediately due to the breathalyzer. That places him there when Jodi got up to leave for work. It seems plausible to me that maybe that’s how circumstances unfolded.
Jodi said she planned to change her phone number the next day because she had been getting “nasty” and “naughty” calls. OK, then did the police follow up and find out where these calls were coming from? That would be paramount to this case. Yet Lt. Frank Stearns, now retired, told HLN in 2011. “We’ve got nothing showing there was a stalker; no gifts, no cards, no phone calls.” Seems like Frank is contradicting himself. In addition, Jodi filed a incident report that someone was stalking her, “On the evening on October 8, 1994, Jodi contacted the Mason City Police Department after she was followed by a small, white pick-up truck”.
Vansice was going through a rough divorce I read. Has anyone looked into the ex-wife of vansice? Did she or anyone in her family or was somebody hired to abduct Jodi? Has this ever been looked into?
Good point, Robyn. I have also wondered who else, if anyone, was at John V’s house the night before she was abducted? John V claims he was the last person to see her, as he indicated she came over to watch a video of her birthday party. Seems a little strange to me. I have been asking this question repeatedly, who else was there that night at John V’s house, yet no one has responded to it. It also seems odd that Jodi tells her two golfing partners she is going to change her phone #, and then the next day she is abducted. My guy instinct tells me they need to go back to the golf tournament, and social gathering afterwards because it was raining, to take a closer look at the “players” there. I am also curious who took the last picture of Jodi at the clubhouse. That is the last known picture of Jodi, a prize or “keeper” for someone.
Wouldn’t the police have access to phone call records even if they were made anonymously? Did they check her phone records? Was John Vanice jealous of Jodi seeing someone else? It had to be difficult for Jodi to deal with him if he wanted something more. Was there someone at her apartment that night and he saw that. Does he know that she was seeing someone else? Did any of her friends ever mention her dating someone else? Was he a person from her work place? Have police not mentioned this for a reason? Jodi, like many women, didn’t want to hurt anyone. She wanted to believe she was safe, but the phone calls made her afraid enough to mention them. The stalking incident of the driver of the small white pick-up made her afraid enough to call the police. Then she ends up missing. Was she keeping John Vanice close to protect her. Did he misread her interest in him as her wanting more than friendship? Obviously the police have not provided all the information and clues about that night. Vanice made it clear he was the last to see her that night, but was he? Who was she drinking beer with that night? Did Vanice follow her home? It does sound like she did oversleep and was hurrying to her car. The fact that the key was bent in the lock means she was caught off guard. Whoever did this seems to have had a plan. It doesn’t seem random, unless it’s someone who lived in the complex or nearby. This was someone interested in Jodi, whether seeing her on television, or someone in her personal life.
She did ask about Michelle at the golf tournament event and that can’t be ruled out since she was involved in a violent crime around drugs. They took their victims away from their home to murder them. What was the timeline of these events and could Jodi have been working on something around this and not have known how dangerous this was.
So incredibly sickened by this case. As I previously pointed out, there are several potential scenarios.
John Vansice is at the top of the list. He raises a million red flags. Actually, I don’t think he could be more guilty. He was clearly obsessed with Jodi. What was his reason for moving to Mason City? Had he been stalking Jodi before he moved there? He just happens to initially live in the same apartment complex? If he didn’t murder Jodi, in my opinion, did everything he could to point the finger at himself. If this was a movie we were all watching, we would all say the Vansice did it.
Let’s pretend Vansice didn’t do it. A stalker likely new her routine. Who was the person banging on the door saying “Jodi, I know you’re in there?” Likely drunk at the time. Would explain the beer cans found outside. When the murder didn’t gain access to the apartment after pounding on the door, he/she could have waited outside, drinking, until Jodi came out.
I still think Dustin Honken and Angela Johnson were involved. They murdered 5 people in 1993 and had gotten away with it prior to Jodi’s disappearance in 1995. Angela just happen to work at the Country Club Jodi was at the night before. Did the Country Club have any white catering vans? If so, were they accounted for and searched on or after June 27, 1995?
Beyond Vansice, the perfect storm was happening in Mason City in 1995.
– MCPD is corrupt
– Meth is there
– A serial rapist lives blocks from KIMT
– Corscaden is obsessed with Jodi
– Billie Pruit is murdered 3 months before Jodi
– A potential stalker who is none of these people.
Billie Pruit’s murder 3 months before Jodi ‘s disappearance is too much to ignore. Angela Johnson needs more questioning now that Dustin has been executed. No that he is not a threat to her, maybe she knows something about Jodi and/or Billie. Money, corruption, and drugs are what allow cases to go unsolved. Was Jodi going to report something on air that morning? Did someone feel the need to silence her?
It was about 4 months ago that there was some break in the case. Someone came forward who had knowledge of evidence being destroyed. No updates yet.
Interesting 47WestRange. I never thought about why John V moved to Mason City in the first place. He certainly didn’t stay there for long after Jodi was abducted.
I keep thinking about what Caroline Lowe and others who moderate this website have said. “Someone knows something.” I believe it will take someone coming forward or — and this is probably my own wishful thinking — that someone will confess. I work in a field where people tell me some of their deepest concerns and sometimes those concerns are related to something that happened decades before. When I watch the birthday video clips I see that John V looked exuberant and happy. As did Jodi. She wrote something in her journal to the effect that the birthday party made her feel so good. She wrote that life is good. What happened? Perhaps the person who abducted her did not know what they were capable of until they did it. Perhaps they did not anticipate that this is where things were headed. Perhaps they snapped. Perhaps they might realize that instead of taking this with them to their grave they could do this one good thing and confess to what happened.
I would like for findjodi.com to comment on the findings of Steve Ridge. There were several stories on the internet back in September of new evidence that he found. Why has findjodi.com not mentioned his potentially big story at all?
I’ve read Steve Ridge’s interviews and accounts and I feel like someone is being played but I don’t know who is playing whom. Some of the revelations in the statement from Vansice — for example that Vansice had a steady girlfriend his own age during the time he knew Jodi but she couldn’t be seen in public — raise more questions than they are apparently intended to answer. Secret girlfriends notwithstanding, Ridge says a witness has admitted to destroying crucial evidence in the case and that the information is so sensitive that he turned it over to the MCPD. Could the MCPD at least confirm that information was turned over to them?
Why would the police not report who the secret girlfriend was? If this is true jealousy would certainly be a motive given the amount of time Vansice was spending with Jodi. If the information I read is correct John Vanscise claimed to be the last to see Jodi, with the exception of whoever kidnapped her, and he claimed to know that morning she was missing from what he told others. Had the police already talked to him? Had the tv station called him and why would they call him?The timeline of what the woman he was going to walk with that morning and what he told her is crucial if he is a suspect. Who is covering for whom? Why did he say Jodi is missing to friends? Was evidence destroyed out of jealousy or a desire not to be brought into the investigation and protect privacy.
I need to make a correction here. The article I read regarding Steve Ridge’s new information said that he turned the information over to federal authorities, not the MCPD. I would assume federal authorities would work with the MCPD if this information was received. Would either federal or local agencies be able to verify the receipt of Ridge’s information? Also, I agree that the timeline for that morning is critical. I hope the podcast could do an episode on alibis for that morning, including what information we have that the alibi has changed over the years, particularly from Bednard’s book but also Scott Fuller mentioned another podcaster who says it has changed (in Fuller’s Frozen Truth podcast). I propose the creation of a timeline with LaDonna Woodford’s statements, the time Amy Kuns answered the phone at the station to Vansice, and the friend (unidentified) who said that John called him that morning to ask him where he was working that day, and when they met at Casey’s and when they drove to the Key Apartments. Include whatever versions exist of that morning walk because one version said it was canceled without explanation.
Hey Kapmeister, JVS is at the top of my list. He is/was an alcoholic who was obsessed with Jodi. A toxic combination. But in fairness to him and Ladonna Woodford, LDW hasn’t changed her story that I am aware of. Her story is the same on frozen truth and up and vanished and 48 hours as well. Just got into this story about a year ago so if you know that she changed her story for sure please list your reference. I will probably go ahead and buy Beth Bednar’s book.
Cy, here are the references. Although I can’t say they prove LDW changed her story for sure, one source gives a different story of the morning walk than what we’ve been given by later accounts, and the other source states outright that the story has changed. The first is from Beth Bednar’s book, Dead Air, published 2011 (fortunately I was able to find it at my local library). The reference is on page 134. It does not give LDW’s name, but here is what it says: “Vansice was believed to be friendly with yet another woman during the time when he was also persistently in pursuit of Jodi. He and the petite and attractive forty-something married woman were said to be friends who also spent time together almost daily. They would meet for an early morning walk most days, and sometimes paired up again for afternoon workouts at the Iron House Gym in Mason City. As we know, that particular June morning he cancelled this regular ‘date’: he called the woman to say that he was unable to meet her. He offered no explanation.”
The second reference is from the Frozen Truth podcast, Season 3, Episode 12 — The Morning Walk. Toward the end of the episode Scott Fuller says that he spoke with a documentary film maker and podcaster (whose name he does not give) who said, “LaDonna’s story has changed over the years.” That same person said, “John Vansice’s story has changed too.”
Where did the account in Bednar’s book come from. She writes, “As we know…” and goes on to say the walk was cancelled. Was this from a police report? Why is the LDW story so different now? I think this bears looking at. And I do want to be fair. I know that the people surrounding Jodi and John did not ask for the spotlight and the scrutiny that it brought to their lives. But LDW is adamant about her timeline in Up and Vanished as if it’s biblical truth and she says something in the Frozen Truth episode that gives me pause. She says, “They were about to indict John.” It seems that her testimony was key. I imagine that’s a heavy burden then to get it right. Imagine that burden. I also think that LDW had feelings for John.
I like Kapmeister! Maybe I’ll keep it!
Thanks Kapmeister. Like I say I’ll probably go ahead and buy that book of Beth Bednar’s. I agree that LDW has to be the friend in question. I wish that the unidentified man in Up and Vanished would say more. Perhaps findjodi.com could reach out to him.