A white van has been referenced in connection with Jodi’s disappearance countless times since she was taken from the parking lot of her apartment complex on June 27, 1995.
The van is mentioned in the timeline so often it’s practically become a fact of the case. As one of Jodi’s co-workers said 10 years after she vanished: “white vans still trigger something in my head.”
But the truth is, we don’t know for sure what Jodi’s abductor(s) drove that morning.
The purpose of this post is to demonstrate why we at FindJodi.com try not to rely too heavily on this ‘fundamental’ aspect of Jodi’s abduction.
Listen to “The White Van” on Spreaker.
Where did the white van come from?
Investigators did not publicly classify Jodi’s disappearance as an abduction until nearly a week after she disappeared.
When they finally did – at a news conference on July 1, 1995 – they also revealed their interest in a mid-80’s model white Ford van.
Police had immediately focused on the van after a tip was called in by Randy Linderman, a man who lived on the same street as Jodi’s complex and commuted past it daily.
Linderman was driving a carpool that morning and said he saw a white Ford Econoline van parked in front of Jodi’s apartment, facing the street. He couldn’t tell if the engine was running, but saw the van’s front parking lights were turned on (he’d initially noticed the vehicle thinking it could have been a police car).
Linderman says the headlights were off.
He didn’t see a driver, or anyone else inside or around the vehicle.
As Linderman described his sighting to me in March 2019:
“I saw a white van parked in the parking area, having gone down that road many times, I’d never seen it there before… if I had to say a time, I’d probably say 3:50 (AM)”
Linderman called police later that day after hearing about Jodi’s abduction.
His tip was taken seriously. Police quickly determined that none of the other residents of the apartment complex were registered owners of a similar van. By mid-afternoon, an alert had been issued for any van matching its description.
Linderman’s account of the van he saw in Jodi’s parking lot early that morning has never wavered. (It was a white Ford Econoline van; “I know my vehicles,” he told me.)
As stalwart and consistent as Linderman has been about what he saw, it’s important to keep in mind that all of the white van speculation in Jodi’s case comes from this single eyewitness sighting, which, according to Linderman, lasted no more than a 15-20 seconds while on his way to work.
Randy Linderman himself is very open to the possibility that the van he saw had nothing to do with the case.
“I can’t say for sure it was involved,” he says.
For 24 years, Linderman’s sighting was the only connection of a white van to Jodi’s disappearance.
The second van sighting
Last year I spoke with another witness who also saw a white van parked nearby on the morning Jodi was abducted.
“Connie” (who asked that her identity be withheld due to the nature of her profession) was renting the upstairs portion of a home directly across the street from the apartment complex in 1995.
On the morning of Jodi’s abduction she saw a similar light-colored van parked on the street outside of the complex entrance, facing south.
“I remember 4:00-4:30 (AM) hearing a car door… I’d never heard it before, the street was really, really quiet. I saw what looked to be a white or a light gray van on the street, not in the parking lot but on the street. I really didn’t think too much about it. I didn’t see any people. As I was falling back asleep I heard another door close. When I woke up two hours later the van was gone.”
The circled location on Kentucky Avenue where witness “Connie” says she saw a van parked early on the morning Jodi disappeared.
Connie says it was unusual for any vehicle to be parked on the street at all, especially so early in the morning.
She believes one of the car door sounds she heard may have been the sound of the van’s rear hatch doors being closed.
Persons of Interest
Some of the persons of interest associated with Jodi’s case drove a van at the time she was abducted.
None of the vans were white.
Thomas Corscadden, a sex offender from Austin, MN, owned a different colored van in 1995. Mason City Police stated in 2004 that Corscadden’s palm prints did not match the one taken from Jodi’s vehicle.
John Vansice, a friend of Jodi’s who claimed to be with her the night before she vanished, also owned a van at the time.
Vansice’s van (pictured) was blue, not white.
Photo: KSTP-TV
Tony Jackson, a serial rapist who lived just two blocks from Jodi’s television station, is not known to have driven a van during the summer of 1995. Jackson was officially eliminated as a suspect by Mason City Police in 1999.
No public person of interest in the case is known to have driven a white Ford Econoline van.
The parking lots of the Key Apartments, noting locations of the two van sightings from June 27, 1995.
Where to park the van?
There are at least two witnesses who remember a white van in the area at the time of Jodi’s disappearance, but nobody saw her being abducted into one.
Would a van waiting in position for Jodi have its parking lights turned on?
Perhaps the van was delivering newspapers or picking up somebody else who lived there. I’ve been told of an electrician who owned a similar van and often did work for the apartment complex.
There are many explanations for the van that would have nothing to do with the case.
Of course, it’s entirely possible that Randy Linderman (and maybe Connie, too) actually did see the vehicle used to take Jodi.
We’re still very interested in any tip about Jodi’s case involving a white van.
As with so much of Jodi’s case, the white van could be everything.
Or it could be yet another dead end.
Anyone with information about 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.
149 Comments
I would like to believe that if the white van was not used in Jodi’s abduction, that the person who owns the white van would have come forward. Whoever owns the white van is fully aware that they were in Jodi’s parking lot or parked on the street on June 27, 1995.
Did the Country Club, where Jodi was the night before, own a white or light-colored van? I believe Jodi’s disappearance and the murder of Billy Pruin are connected to Dustin Honken and Angela Johnson. Billy was apparently vocal about the Meth issue. Dustin and Angela had already murdered 5 people in 1993. It seems to me that because they had not been caught, it’s logical that Dustin and/or Angela murdered Billy. According to reports, Angela was working at the County Club the night of the charity event. If the County Club owns a white van, it’s possible Angela used it and the Country Club didn’t know, therefore never reporting that the white van was in Jodi’s parking lot. Reports have stated that a larger person had to have committed the crime. Angela Johnson seems to fit that profile. Have Dustin and Alison provided palm prints?
Many “stories” don’t see to add up, but it somehow has to be tied to the Meth ring in or around Mason City. There was enough money at state for Dustin and Angela to murder 5 people in 1993. Were other pockets being lined with cash? Anyone in or around the area all of the sudden come into a ton of money in or around 1995?
Can’t someone determine the white vans that were in the area back in June 1995? Have police taken palm prints of everyone suspected of involvement? If not, why? Does an independent law enforcement agency need to look into things.
Again, if the owner of the white van was not responsible, they would have come forward immediately. It’s been 25 years. I have not read every detail about the case, but don’t believe that the owner of that van has come forward. Makes me believe the white van holds the answers. Where is the van?
Wasn’t Dustin Honken given the death penalty?
With Jerry Burns mentioning Jodi during his police interrogation for the murder of Michelle Martinko, I would be interested to know if in 1995 Jerry Burns or his business owned a white van. Jerry Burns had no trouble killing Michelle 1 hour away from where he lived, and Mason City is just 2 hours away from where he lived in Manchester Iowa. Manchester is in the KGAN viewing area, so it’s certainly possible he had seen her on tv before and Jodi would be his type. Maybe there is a possibility Jerry’s work took him to Mason City on occasion? Worth looking into now that he has been convicted.
The problem I have is Michelle was brutally murdered, stabbed multiple times. Jodi just vanished.
He would have had 16 years to think about how he would do it differently next time. Looks like the Find Jodi team revamped this post to include the latest podcast episode since I left that comment over a year ago. I don’t really suspect Jerry Burns at this point, but I would be interested to know if he or his business owned a white van in 1995. Jerry mentioning Jodi got my attention, but she is probably the 2nd or 3rd most known missing person’s case in the state of Iowa after Johnny Gosch. Not a big deal that he mentioned her.
That’s a good point MikeD, but 16 years is a long time to “think” about anything. Most of these sick puppies, like Jerry Burns and Tony Jackson, probably don’t do a lot of thinking anyway. They have no self control, and they are always on the prowl. Look at Tony Jackson, so many rapes in such a short period of time.
Just to close the loop on one aspect of this comment. Manchester is within the KGAN viewing area but at the time Jodi worked at KGAN, only the viewers in Iowa City were able to see her work. She was the Iowa City bureau reporter and she produced, reported and anchored a 5-minute “cut-in” that aired over the second ‘block’ of KGAN’s newscast. There was also a reporter in Dubuque who did the same thing. The viewers in Manchester would have seen KGAN’s main newscast and not any of the cut-ins, so it would not be possible for Manchester viewers to see the Iowa City content.
Maybe do a test to see what different vehicle colors would look like at 3:30AM-4:30AM in similar artificial lighting to what would have existed in the area? Is it possible that certain colors appear differently at night/twilight?
On the Oxygen Network special, I thought it was said that someone other than Randy Linderman noticed a light-colored van in that area, but not white. Which in turn caused speculation that the van Randy saw wasn’t white. I can’t quite recall how that conversation went…
Has the authorities gone on Ebay or other websites to check out the van? It is a classic model and besides it could be a different color now, not white or grey. Also, the many chop-shops in the state, it is possible to convert that particular van into a truck. The one van my cousin had in the 80’s had a passenger slide door. Which could be what witnesses heard that morning.
It could’ve even be painted GREEN, after it was painted BLUE before that.
Did they check out van rentals in the area at the time this information was provided. I didn’t realize they didn’t report it as an abduction for so long. It seems reasonable that the person(s) who abducted Jodi knew the time she left for work. The fact that the parking lights were on could have been an accident and they weren’t aware they left them on. Have they considered two people took Jodi? Could one have still been in the van they didn’t see. Is the palm print a man’s and was it on the door where it was held shut while Jodi tried to use her key to get in her car. Didn’t her car have a remote opener?
Did they check the palm prints of all the suspects? Was the electrician interviewed? If he did work there he certainly would have met Jodi. It seems there are a lot of unanswered questions around this white or light colored van.
It could have been a very dirty van that looked white in the darkness with little lighting. Maybe had been on gravel roads before getting there as they were looking for a place to go with Jodi. Just a thought.
Did someone own the van and lend it to a friend or co-worker around that time? As I mentioned earlier, the white van had to have been used to transport Jodi somewhere. If that van’s owner had nothing to do with Jodi’s disappearance, the owner would have come forward immediately and said they were the electrician for the apartment or given some other story as to why their van was there. The van would have then been fingerprinted for evidence. There is NO rational explanation for that van being there other then to transport Jodi somewhere. If it had no windows, people would not be able to see Jodi struggling inside. I do believe there was more than one person involved. Unless Jodi was murdered or knocked unconscious in the parking lot, someone had to be restraining her while someone else was driving.
The #1 suspect and his walking partner could be a fit. Is she the only one who claims to have an alibi for him? Where was she at that time? If they walked every morning, why is there a need to call him? What was the relationship with the walkers? Was she jealous of Jodi?
Good points 47 West. Maybe this Mason City PD should have you on the force. Maybe this would already be solved. Is there any way of finding out if John VS’s lady walking friend had a white or silver van. I have found her to be suspicious from the first time I heard her being interviewed.
Like 47WestRange I believe this is all linked to the Pruin murder and am intrigued by the idea that the country club might have own a white delivery van.
Question, is there any commercial rail that runs through Mason City or nearby? I lived in western Iowa near a rail hub for a while and noticed rail employees being transported to and from stops on a daily basis in white Econoline vans. Just a thought.
By “rail”, do you mean train? Yes, there are several tracks that run through the town.
I remember that people saw a white van..If that is the case…they would have either hidden it,left the area or painted it a different color..Wasn’t there also,a person of interest,living down the street from Jodi? Was he looked into..
I have been following this case for so many years…I just hope and pray that someday there will be answers.Such a beautiful lady,inside and out.Someone could come forward but doesn’t look like it will ever happen….no conscience..RIP…beautiful Jodi..
Didn’t JV have two vans at the time? One for work – silver or white and a blue one for personal use? Isn’t it possible that at 4:00 in the morning in darkness, that a silver van could be mistaken for a white one – especially if you only saw it for a few seconds?
There are several possible suspects. I don’t like how fast MCPD let Thomas Gary Corscadden off the hook. Ron Vande Weerd is quoted as saying there is nothing linking Corscadden to Jodi. The polygraph or lie detector is a joke. Too many guilty people have passed it. Here’s what makes this pile of crap a top suspect – an possible his friend, Randy Seward (sp?):
– According to his WIFE, he was obsessed with Jodi
– Was upset that he couldn’t get tickets to a viewing of the news
– Is a sex offender with a light yellow van that matched the one seen the morning Jodi vanished.
– In said van, a mattress and all the pornographic items of an EXTREMELY sick piece of crap.
– The van MYSTERIOUSLY burns shortly after Jodi disappears? Are you EFFING kidding me?
– In the interview with Randy Seward (spelling?), he says when talking about the search of his farm, “They went through the bonfire pile, thinking “WE” had burned her body.” For some reason, he says “We had another friend who had a pickup over there” and points. Was it the blue truck that Jodi thought was following her? Randy seems like a real piece of work in this video taken 9 years after Jodi disappeared. Ron Vande Weerd says Corscadden’s palm print didn’t match.
QUESTION: Was Randy Seward interrogated? And the other friend who owned the pickup?
What kind of people associate with sex offenders? Correct! Other scum. Does Randy’s palm print match? Did MCPD even check it?
I have always thought multiple people, at least two, were involved. Unless they killed Jodi instantly, someone would need to drive the van while others were tending to her. With Randy’s “no remorse” way of talking in the interview, he and the pickup guy could have carried this out with Corscadden,
With Corscadden’s history, I don’t think he would have immediately killed Jodi. Who had the yellow van when it burned? Where are the remains of the yellow van. Surely, technology still could have pulled something from it. Does the palm print match Randy, the pickup guy, or anyone associated with any of them? What else does Corscadden’s wife know. She are said he was obsessed with Jodi. Where was he that day? His behavior the next several days? Could GPS data be pulled from the yellow van?
Another article says Corscadden’s van was white. I searched Thomas Corscadden on YouTube today. Sifting though the videos, I came across Louise Corscadden (LouTube). She looks like she could be Jodi’s daughter.
With Thomas Corscadden making several trips from Austin, MN to Mason City, IA, and his history, he should be the #1 suspect. Has the area been searched between Austin and Mason City? Someone as sick as him would not have just killed Jodi and disposed of her body. My guess is that he stopped somewhere between Mason City and Austin. Highly likely that he raped her before killing her. If only him, he would have needed to pull over somewhere, dispose of her body, and get to wherever he was supposed to be that morning.
My family was in Ankeny, IA, this weekend. In driving there and back from Rochester, along with the anniversary of Jodi’s disappearance, I started thinking about where Corscadden could have left Jodi. There are more than a few heavily wooded areas right of the highway. Lord knows what could possibly be in those areas. Did they bring cadaver dogs to search?
When I came across Louise Corscadden on YouTube tonight, things got a bit strange. I think she looks like Jodi, but I could be way off. I think she is from Belfast, Ireland. As I am having these bizarre thoughts about her possibly being Jodi’s daughter, I did the math. If Corscadden raped Jodi in June 1995, nine months arrives in March 1996. It just so happens that a search for March 1996 brings up an article of Thomas Corscadden talking to a court agent that raised suspicion of his possible involvement with Jodi’s disappearance. He was quoted as saying Jodi was dead. Crazy that occurred exactly 9 months after she vanished. The websleuth’s website discusses Jodi’s case. Very strange that immediately following Jodi’s discussion is that announcement that a missing boy from Belfast, Ireland, was recently missing and found murdered. Crazy.
I have provided my thoughts on here about a handful of suspects who easily could be guilty. It’s disgusting to think that so many different scenarios could have led to Jodi’s disappearance. John Vansice, Dustin and Angela, Tony Jackson, Thomas Corscadden. I’m likely blanking on someone else.
Corscadden seems the most likely. A sex offender before and after Jodi disappeared. Owner of a white van. Had an obsession with Jodi. Had a mattress and carpet, along with other things sick people drive around with in their vehicle. The van burns in a fire right after Jodi vanishes? How is it NOT Corscadden? EVERYTHING points directly to him.
Lie detectors don’t always work. Too many murderWRs pass them and then are later convicted. The palm print not matching Corscadden does let him off in my opinion. He had too many other matches to be the #1 suspect. He and his ex-wife need to be re-interrogated.
Sorry for the long rant. I am disgusted by people who murder people and get away with it for 25+ years. I hope they identify the scum and he is still living to pay for what he has done. I want justice for Jodi and would like to see the person or people involved suffer.
I wonder if they ever questioned if there was any flooring being replaced in the apartment complex around the time she disappeared. Long panel vans are used by flooring installers and they always back them in. Unfortunately a lot of those guys can be super shady people, and it’s not hard to hide a small woman’s body in rolls of old carpet and pad.
Excellent episode. The possible trajectory of the van answers to why it would have been seen in two locations. It seems to be the logical path, to wait on the street and then move to the parking lot when Jodi’s light came on, even though the timeline doesn’t work out between the two sightings for that sequence.
I doubt the van was a newspaper delivery or something routine because Randy had never seen the van parked there before at the time of the morning.
This is the first time I’ve heard that there was paperwork in Jodi’s scattered belongings. The MCPD detective mentions them. Police think she was dragged unconscious but Stearns depicts an initial fight for her life from the scattered items. Jay Alberio has said previously that he didn’t think Jodi had much of a chance to fight, indicated by a lack of blood at the scene. This brings me to a question: how would Jodi have been rendered unconscious? Could she have been struck in the head without leaving blood behind?
Although I think a physically strong person could accomplish this on their own, I am now wondering if there was another person there, because of the way “Connie” heard the doors close. Or was the abductor checking doors while waiting on the street prior to the abduction, to make sure they were unlocked/unlocked before he took Jodi?
If there was a van parked there that had nothing to do with the abduction, the person in that van would have been there so close to the time it happened that they almost couldn’t miss it. They surely would have contacted police to say they were there, unless they too were hiding something unrelated to the abduction and didn’t want to talk to police. Drugs?
I had been hoping to get my life back by not thinking about this case so much. Now I have even more thoughts.
*I meant the abductor could have been making sure doors were locked/unlocked prior to the abduction.
KAP I had read the statement this witness said about the van being parked in the street and hearing the car doors close. She seems credible. I also read what Linderman said about the van and came up with the strategy for the abduction given in this podcast. The only thing off is the time the witnesses gave. Connie said she just remembered looking at four on her clock and not the other numbers. Is it possible it was 3:45 for example and not four something? That would line up with what Linderman said about seeing the van at 3:50. When you’re sleepy this could be an easy mistake. As far as the detective telling her she couldn’t have seen a car in the street from her window he may have been testing her statement to seeing if she would change her story of what she saw. Both of these witnesses are sure of what they saw and heard. So who owned a white van like this, or a light-colored van like this as under the street lights it could have been a different color. I have been puzzled by where Jodi’s things were found in the median. Did she make it this far after she was hit and tried to get away? She would have possibly stumbled on the curb and fell forward then was overpowered and dragged. If she fell forward her things would have scattered ahead of her wouldn’t have they. I caught the paperwork comment too. So they do have some of her notes probably as evidence. Did the attacker dump out her bag, grab what they wanted, and dragged her to the waiting vehicle leaving the rest. Were there two people, one opening one door when Connie heard it and looked out and another door later when she said she didn’t look out again? She could have not seen the van move but heard the door close again where Linderman said he saw it. He seems certain about the time. Was there just one person opening the door and closing it? Did he close an already opened back door, after putting Jodi in the van, then get in and shut the driver’s door that Connie heard the second time. Or were there two people there one to abduct and grab Jodi, the other to do the driving? It wouldn’t be impossible for one person to do this. I’m leaning more to there being only one person who abducted her.
Anonymous, yes, I think the detective was testing Connie. She does seem credible. We have two people who saw a white or gray van that they weren’t accustomed to seeing at that hour and location. There doesn’t seem to be a logical reason someone would park on the street in that spot and open car doors. At that hour in that location what are the chances it was a random occurrence at the very hour Jodi was abducted? It doesn’t seem likely. But it could be unrelated. I wouldn’t rule out someone on the basis of whether they owned a van like that.
There is an account in Beth Bednar’s book about a woman who stayed with JVS on the night after the abduction. She encountered him watching the recovery efforts and didn’t think he should be alone. She said the next morning he was insistent on taking one of his vehicles and not the other. I don’t have the book anymore (it was a library loan), but maybe I’ll check it out again this weekend.
Was this woman LDW. She has always been protective of JVS. She seems too close to him to be objective regarding his behavior before and after the abduction. It could have been Ani too. Did she say he seemed upbeat and positive that Jodi would be back safely as he was in interviews? Did she say he showed remorse in private? That’s what I’d want to know. I also want to know if they located the electrician with a white van and interviewed him. Wouldn’t it be easy for them to find him if he had done work at the apartments before? Did JVS take the blue van he owned the next morning to prove he didn’t have a white van? He was seen in the blue van with a reporter asking him questions. I don’t know how soon this was after the abduction, but Linderman hadn’t reported seeing the white van yet? Which vehicle did he take? What did his other car look like? A car was seen leaving the parking lot fast by the jogger. Maybe Jodi wasn’t attacked from the back. Maybe she was abducted from the front, dragged into the median, and put in a car. That could be what Connie heard. They didn’t check JVS’s vehicles. That was a mistake when he was the last to see her alive and came forward and told them this. That could have been to avoid suspicion.
It’s not LDW. My library had an e copy of the book so I have it now. I’m at work but I’ll reply more on this later.
Wouldn’t you think the MCPD would have checked who may have rented vans fitting this description. Also, did JVS have access to a work van that may have fit this description? We know Corscadden had one. The more I look at where Linderman said the van was parked and where Jodi was abducted I believe it could have been possible for the person to grab Jodi and get there to the van in a short time and be gone. It was parked so it could get away fast. And the door Connie heard the first time was his getting out and the second time getting into the van. She did say she heard it two separate times. Was he parked on the street so he could see the lights in Jodi’s apartment and only drove into the lot when they went off so he knew she would be entering the parking lot.
The person who stayed with JVS the night of the abduction was Lanee Good, who worked at the Other Place and had also attended the birthday party. She and her mother drove to area of the Key Apartments that evening where boats were dragging the Winnebago river and she encountered JVS. He didn’t want to be alone and she agreed to stay with him that night. The next morning he was dropping her off before planning to go to work and she thought they’d take his work vehicle. His work vehicle was a Chevy Astro van his company leased for him. But he told her they would take his personal vehicle, and when she asked him why they weren’t taking his work vehicle, he rebuffed her and said, Never mind.” This is from Beth Bednar’s book. Frustratingly, this account doesn’t tell us what his personal vehicle was. If the police didn’t check his vehicles, I am shocked. I am shocked that we still don’t know what vehicles he owned. We only know his work van.
Weren’t search warrants issued for 2 of John V’s vehicles?
Paris, those were not for the vehicles he drove in 1995. They were for GPS data on the vehicles he was driving currently, presumably to see if he was visiting burial sites. However, they should issue search warrants for the 1995 vehicles if police did not check them at the time. They’re probably flattened somewhere in a junkyard by now, though.
I’ve had another thought about Connie’s statements about the white van. Did the detective write a report at the time about what she said? Was someone watching Jodi from law enforcement? Connie seems certain as to what she saw and heard all these years later. It would be interesting to know why Jodi stopped in the golf course restaurant kitchen that day to ask if Angela was working. Angela says she wasn’t working there anymore, but Jodi was just told she wasn’t there. My point is why would Jodi make a point to go back and ask about her if she wouldn’t have been looking into something she was doing. Was Jodi abducted because of the drug trade she was looking into? Who had a white van or rented one to commit this crime. People have mentioned the police being involved. The crime leaving no real evidence makes one wonder if they could have been. And who was banging on Jodi’s door that night? Did someone get a tip she was asking about them? Where was JVS getting the money to invest in cars, trucks, a boat, and properties, Did he know Jodi was checking into the meth trade, and was he keeping her close because of it. How many people were involved in buying and selling meth? If they could kill innocent children they could have targeted Jodi. She wrote shortly before she wanted to make her mother proud. Would a big story have done this?
I have not heard that Jodi stopped in the golf course restaurant kitchen and asked for Angela. Her colleagues say Jodi was not investigating meth, that she basically covered local community events and soft news. I do wonder about the undercurrent Karen Fuller talked about and whether people who were using drugs could have been on the periphery of Jodi’s circle. But if they were going to target someone for an abduction because they thought they knew something, wouldn’t it be reporters who were actually doing those kinds of stories?
Jodi would not have been doing stories on the drug trade in town. The local newspaper would likely have been a much better venue for that. Jodi wanted to make her mother proud by getting a job in a bigger city and was really focused on Minneapolis so she could be in a bigger market and be close to home.
Remember the DC sniper case when people reported seeing a white van and it turned out they were driving an old car and shooting from the trunk of it. Just an example that people get a description wrong sometimes.
KAP thanks for the information on Lanee Good and JVS not wanting to take his work vehicle to give her a ride to work before he went to work. Does that mean he was going to go back home before he went to work? Did he go to work that day? Did they notice he didn’t have his work vehicle if he drove straight to work? Those are things the police would have investigated if he was a person of interest. How soon did he take the lie detector test? He certainly had a lot of women around him and taking care of him. Jodi was one. LDW another. The secret girlfriend he was dating and Ani. And now Lanee Good. Interesting. LDW seems to be the only one who has steadfastly supported him concerning Jodi’s abduction and not changed her account of his activities that morning.
The book says he didn’t go to work right away because Jodi’s sister, JoAnne arrived and he met with her. Maybe he went to work after but I don’t think that’s verified.
Regarding the number of women around him, Bednar’s book pretty much paints him as a womanizer. Even so, I don’t think I believe there was a secret girlfriend. If there was, and she watched the birthday video, maybe she’s our suspect because her boyfriend was certainly all over Jodi that night. I find it hard to believe that such a woman existed.
Actually, LDW has changed her account. Remember the Frozen Truth morning walk episode we’ve discussed recently? Bednar’s book says the walk was cancelled without explanation. But later LDW gives a full-fledged detailed account of the morning walk on Frozen Truth. But yes, she does steadfastly support JVS, even to the point of accusing another witness whose timeline challenges hers of having an obsession with Jodi and committing the crime. I think LDW had feelings for JVS herself, which I think is obvious in her account of her first meeting with Jodi and John. She makes a point of saying that John positioned himself next to her, not Jodi.
Regarding the stories, yes most have said she wouldn’t have been working on a story on drugs because she did human interest light stories in the community. But that doesn’t mean on her own she may have been looking into something. She was trying to move to a larger market and a scoop on an important story would have helped. It was reported by someone on the kitchen staff at the restaurant that day that Jodi did come back and ask about Angela. They said she was friendly. She wouldn’t have known Angela, at least that we know of, so why would she have been asking about her. Why did she want to talk to her? This could have been enough for drug dealers to go after Jodi. Sometimes reporters are taken because they are asking too many questions. I know Angela has denied knowing anything, but that doesn’t mean much.
But if you look at Jodi’s strategy for getting to a larger market, it’s pretty light. I mean no disrespect to Jodi but her strategy wasn’t about honing her reporting skills or breaking a big story; it was about her self presentation, working on her voice, losing weight, etc. I would say she did have a gift for connecting with her audience and that’s where she shined. And that is what Karen Fuller was talking about when she said you either have that or you don’t. Jodi had that. It is possible that she had started looking into something on her own but if she was, I think investigators would have found something about that in her files at the newsroom.
Or she was keeping that information at home. Remember, her notebook and purse are missing.
We’ve been wondering about her purse and briefcase on another thread. Incidentally, I just came across that information on the Iowa Cold Case website. It states the following:
“Upon their arrival, officers discovered a number of Huisentruit’s personal possessions strewn about the parking lot, including Jodi’s purse, hair spray, hair dryer, and a pair of red high-heeled shoes. Huisentruit usually carried these items to and from work in a canvas tote bag….Jodi’s canvas tote bag — in which she often carried her notebooks and computer diskettes — was not found at the scene and has never been located.”
That was me, KAP, posting about the canvas tote bag information from the Iowa Cold Cases website. I forgot to log in once again.
Jodi would not have worked on this kind of story even on her own. KAP is absolutely correct. Jodi’s strategy to get to a bigger market was focusing on getting a good resume tape of her anchoring, not reporting. Jodi didn’t want to be a reporter in a bigger market. She wanted to be a morning or noon show anchor in a bigger market. The idea she would be silenced by drug traffickers who thought she was onto something is weak. Sorry.
It may have been something she was only thinking about and doing on her own. She may not have told anyone at work because they would have told her not to do this. You mention her losing weight. She didn’t seem to have a problem with weight. Was she relying on medication. Just a thought. And the toilet seat up. She could have cleaned it or she could have had another problem. No judgment here. Just wondering.
LDW has changed her story but contends she has not. The secret girlfriend I referred to is when LDW told the story of JVS trying to get her to come into his house one morning when they went for a walk. She finally agreed and there in the house was a friend of hers. She said she giggled and they admitted they were dating. She said it was secretively to ensure her safety. Why? What was going to happen to her if they dated openly. Then LDW went into great detail to say it didn’t matter to her that he was dating because she was a married woman and had no romantic interest in JVS. This seemed to be a lot of information for someone who wasn’t involved with him. Maybe she felt she had no hold on him because she was married but did have feelings for him. Didn’t LDW later get a divorce? It seems JVS was a player and Jodi was the girl he couldn’t get and wanted most.
I recall that story and I think JVS might have had a woman over that day but I doubt that he and she were in a secret dating relationship. But what do I know, right? Well, we know that he was out at bars buying drinks for women he didn’t know (the way he met Jodi and Ani), he spent a lot of time with Jodi and friends, he worked out with LDW twice a day. It strains credibility.
Regarding the timeline of the two van sightings: Didn’t Randy Linderman give a different time in a different interview? A time closer to 4:30? If the path of the van did indeed move from the street to the parking lot, his sighting of the van in the parking lot would mean that he saw it later than Connie did. Assuming it moved into the parking lot when Jodi’s light came on, it could have been in that position for 20 minutes or so. Connie gives a time of 4:00 or 4:30 for the street view. Maybe the reported timelines have enough room in them to match up with the proposed movement of the van. The closing of the van’s doors on the street, though, is problematic for that path. Maybe that’s problematic either way.
LDW walked twice a day with JVS. That’s a lot of time they spent together when she was so clear that there wasn’t anything romantic going on. She did say the woman JVS wanted her to meet that morning he was insistent she comes into his house, was a friend of hers and they were dating. She said the friend giggled and confirmed this but they were keeping it quiet for her safety. I don’t know if they have ever named this woman. There’s a lot of suspicious things LDW has said that don’t line up. She provides details that make her look like she’s trying too hard to convince everyone JVS was not involved. She talks about how groggy he was that morning. So why did they go walking? She said she knew how he acted when he was tired. She calls her other walking friend from a payphone so she doesn’t think they went walking without her. Why didn’t JVS call her and if nothing was going on why did they have to prove it. There’s just so much information she puts out there. Were any of the many people around JVS and Jodi using meth. Did JVS use drugs? Why were they working out twice a day?
Yes, JVS has named the woman. Her name is “Joanie.” You can hear this on the Up and Vanished podcast based on this case, where the team discusses additional information that they didn’t air on the broadcast. I’m almost embarrassed to comment on this because its comes across as cheap gossip, but that’s what JVS said through his spokesperson. Wouldn’t Joanie have been jealous of Jodi? Did JVS show Joanie the birthday tape, too? Where was Joanie when Lanee Good stayed with JVS? Did the police question Joanie?
When LDW and JVS would meet for a second workout of the day, it was at a local gym.
So we know who she was but why did he have to date her in secret for her safety? That’s the story LDW told. And did they interview her about the morning of Jodi’s abduction after LDW called her from the payphone about their morning walk? Did she corroborate LDW’s description and details of that morning? Why were all these women spending time with JVS, but not jealous of Jodi who he seemed to be giving all his attention. Like you, am I missing something? Did they really believe he had no interest in her with the water ski trips, the big birthday party, and all the affection he showed her. He said he was the last to be with her the night before her abduction. I don’t think it’s cheap gossip to ask why he was spending so much time with Jodi. He had spent the entire weekend with her. He says it was a fatherly relationship but it didn’t look fatherly in the birthday video. Any girlfriend would have noticed this.
I think “Joanie” is a ruse.
Just to be clear, I wasn’t suggesting you were engaging in cheap gossip. I’ve asked the same questions about the amount of time JVS was spending with Jodi. I meant that the “Joanie” information I passed on comes across as if I’m passing on cheap gossip and I hesitated to post it for that reason. But it came from LDW. That’s what she wants people to know. Apparently she hopes it will deflect questions about the relationship of JVS to Jodi.
I’d like to hear her story. What was that phone call about? LDW said the police should be able to trace it to prove she made it to “Joanie” the morning of the abduction. If your boyfriend was the last to see Jodi, wouldn’t you want to know what he was doing with her the night before? Was Joanie Jodi? Was the phone call to Jodi? Did JVS already know Jodi was missing? Was this phone call made before or after he called the news station to see if Jodi was at work? Is it possible when Amy Kuns said she wasn’t there that they called Jodi’s home?
If the Mazda Miata can be traced, JVS’ former vehicles can be traced. One of them had a breathalyzer installed; surely there is a record of that. And probably some of his friends and associates from 1995 would be able to recall offhand the vehicles that he drove.
I was out for a drive today on this beautiful sunny day. I saw quite a few convertible owners cruising with their tops down. I thought of Jodi. How many times did she get to go for a drive in her Miata with the top down before she was abducted. She would have attracted a lot of attention, especially as a local celebrity news reporter in a small city like Mason City. I recall when a news reporter here in a large city bought a new expensive sports car. She was teased about it on the evening news and told she looked good in that car. I’m old enough to appreciate when only news was reported and personal lives and opinions were kept out of it. I remember thinking it was inappropriate. She took it well and teased back. In a large city, she might not have even been recognized while out driving. But Jodi would have been. When she started driving the Miata until her abduction was a relatively short period of time. I believe someone saw Jodi and targeted her. Or someone was jealous of the attention she was getting and the independence she was demonstrating.
The more I learn about this case the more concerned I am about how the MCPD processed the crime scene, the Miata, and her apartment. You would think there would have been trace DNA somewhere that may have been processed with the new tools available to do so. I read where the palm print they found was not identified as on the door, car roof, or mirror. Were Jodi’s apartment keys in her purse. Were they processed for DNA? Were the key chain and key left in the door? Why did JVS talk about Jodi possibly having one of his shirts in her apartment? Did they find his DNA in the apartment? He said Jodi came by the night before her abduction to watch the birthday tape and left at 11:00 pm. Then changed it to 10:00 pm and again to 9:00 pm. On a work night, and tired from the golf tournament, it’s hard to believe she would stay out late when she had to get up the next morning. And she told her friend’s husband to have her call if she got in before10:00 so she must have planned on going to bed by then. Who was pounding on her door that night? Is this hearsay or was someone really saying I know you’re in there. He could have left DMA also.
Vic Koenigsberg, who lived in the B building of the Key Apartments, arrived home from the railroad at 3 a.m. Someone earlier in this thread notes that rail employees who worked for the hub where she lived in western Iowa were transported to and from stops in white Econoline vans. Whether Koenigsberg was ever transported that way or only worked close to home and used his own vehicle would have been good to know. I believe he is now deceased. Koenigsberg was straightening up his apartment that morning in anticipation of a visit from maintenance later that day and heard screams around 4:30 a.m. for about a minute before they faded away.
Although Randy and Connie had never seen a van at that time before, I wonder if it’s possible that they had occasionally seen or heard similar vehicles and simply didn’t remember it because there was nothing of significance to attach the sighting to their memories. The way memory works is a fascinating subject on its own. Had an abduction not been in the news that day, neither of them might have recalled seeing a van at all. It would have slipped into oblivion. Those sightings became significant when they heard the news and otherwise may not have been retained in their memories. My point is that maybe it was not the only time a van like that had been stopped there, especially since it was the most popular vehicle in the country. There simply was not a reason to recall it before that. Like Randy says in a different interview: “Oh, you see that kind of van all the time. You just wonder if it’s the same van.” Maybe a white van around the apartments at that time wasn’t as unusual as it seemed after the fact. Maybe.
Interesting insight about white vans. Here in our large city workhouse detainees are transported in these vans every day to another site where they then go to their assignments. They meet back at the original site and are transported back to the workhouse. Many people aren’t aware these are workhouse detainees. Some are doing community service. The vans are either unmarked or have a county name on them. I notice these vans because I’m aware the county workhouse uses them and I have watched the men waiting in the morning and afternoon. On hot days I’ve offered them something to drink. I think Linderman who drove that route every day probably would notice a van. He did say he wondered if it was the police, and that’s something that would stay with you. Just as the jogger said a car speeding out of the parking lot was unusual at that time. The only thing that would be off in memory was probably time and color. I think there’s reason to believe the van was there. I still think if the location fits, that the van Connie saw was watching Jodi’s apartment window, and the van Linderman saw was the same van positioned to abduct her and leave fast.
I think about that speeding car and recall that the person who lived in the ground floor apartment below Jodi was gone that morning in order to take an examination a couple of hours away. I remember reading this a while ago and I don’t think I imagined it, but I can’t find the account of it anywhere now. At the time I didn’t save it because I had no idea I was going to get this involved in studying this case. So I wonder if the speeding car was that guy leaving to make it to his test a couple of hours later.
I do acknowledge there was a van there that morning. I believe Randy and Connie saw what they saw, but is it possible the van had been there other times, but was never noticed. I’m just trying to work out all the possibilities. In a previous comment on this thread I said what are the chances that a van they’d never seen before at that hour didn’t have something to do with the abduction. But I’ve continued to think about that and about the way memory works and I just wanted to run this by as a possibility that the van being there was actually not remarkable and wasn’t the vehicle used in the abduction. It probably was, though. Either way, I don’t know how much the van can help us now in solving this.
Did anyone park a van like JVS drove on the street where Connie said she saw the van, or in the parking lot where Linderman said he saw it, to see if it could have been mistaken for a white van?
I had a thought about the person you mentioned who was off to take a test early that morning. What did the police actually learn from each person in the apartment complex. Did they interview everyone. Neighbors heard someone pounding on her door saying I know you’re in there. If this is accurate, could someone who lived below or near Jodi have complained about noise? Her phone number was listed in the local phone book so anyone could have had her number. Did someone in the complex make anonymous phone calls to Jodi. Often these calls are someone who knows the victim and their schedule. I once had the police department, and phone company trace anonymous disturbing. phone calls to me and it turned out to be someone that worked where I did.
I found the reference for the ground floor resident who was away. I didn’t imagine it! It’s on Frozen Truth, Season 3, Episode 13. He was taking the pharmacy law exam that morning and he had left the night before and spent the night with friends in the Twin Cities. So no one was in the apartment that fronted the scene of the abduction. It also wouldn’t have been his car leaving for the exam that morning. When people ask why the abduction happened that Tuesday morning it makes me wonder if the abductor knew that person was away. They were assigned parking spaces, so his vehicle would have been gone.
No we were not assigned parking spaces. Who told you that? We parked wherever we wanted to.
It’s in this episode in the description of the parking lot. At 7:23: “they were all assigned parking spaces.” I have wondered about this point and appreciate the clarification if that wasn’t the case.
Another discrepancy at the crime scene.
If a white van was actually involved, it would make me wonder if Tony Zappa(aka Anthony Steven Wright) was involved. He pleaded guilty to burglaries around Mason City in 1995. An abduction in Kearney was very similar.
I think I’ve come across the name Tony Zappa but I don’t know much about that. Connie heard opening and closing of car doors on the vehicle. She said it wasn’t terribly loud but something about it woke her up. She looked out and saw the van but didn’t see any persons. If the van was in that position before the abduction, waiting for Jodi’s light to come on, why were the doors opening and closing at that point? I thought maybe the abductor wanted to make sure that the passenger door was locked and the back door unlocked. It would be risky to start opening and closing doors there, though.
And rethinking my comments on memory, Randy says he knows his vehicles. So maybe he’s a person that would notice vehicles as a rule, even on all the unremarkable days driving past the apartments. I do not know my vehicles. I often have to identify my own vehicle in a crowded parking lot by the paw prints on the hood. (My cat likes to stroll around on my car.)
I had a thought about the campers. Could one of them have been leaving early that morning to start their trip back home and stopped to reposition items or get their bearings with a map? But I don’t know how they’d then end up in the parking lot at Keys, unless it was to turn around because they found they were headed the wrong way.
The windowless aspect of the van makes me wonder, too.
Does anyone know if Jodi had exercise equipment in her apartment? Could the pounding on her door have been someone annoyed by her making noise while they were trying to sleep? If this had happened before it would explain why she didn’t come to the door and why they said I know you’re in there.
I guess if the person living below wasn’t home that wouldn’t have been him pounding on the door unless he left late. I mentioned it because disturbing noise can be awful when you’re trying to study or sleep. I hope the police checked with all the nearby apartment residents. Jodi would have showered, got ready, left, and returned to do the same before going to the golf tournament dinner. If someone was trying to study or sleep that was a lot of noise. I’ve lived in enough apartments to know how disturbing this can be. The ground floor one absorbs some of the noise but the one above, if there was one, would have heard the noise.
I an earlier post a railway worker was mentioned. This isn’t about him, it made me think of something that was happening around the time of Jodi’s disappearance. It may not be connected with the Jodi case and I’m not saying it is. Does anyone remember that Serial Killer that use to ride the RAILS and TRAINS from state to state killing people? Apparently this guy had a run that started in the 80’s and lasted until the late 90’s. His name was ANGEL MATURINO RESENDIZ. Again, not saying this guy should be added to the suspect list, also not saying he should be excluded. Never would have brought him up until that mention in that post made me remember that there are some rail tracks that run pretty close to the Key Apartment. However, if this guy needs to bum a ride on trains it a good bet he didn’t have a Car or a Van. Then again that would be a good way to stay under the radar. He was captured in ’99.
I had not heard of him. As you point out he probably didn’t have a vehicle so he must have left the bodies of his victims behind. I’ve been wondering what areas were searched for Jodi and whether a list could be compiled of the sites searched so far.
Unless he met someone who did. Like Corscadden. Drifters often hang out by the tracks and meet one another. I think whoever took Jodi had the opportunity at that time in the morning and knew when she left for work. It would be easy for anyone to watch her apartment window and keep track of her coming and going. Her phone number and address were public information. She became more conspicuous driving the bright red Miata.
I’ve been thinking about how Jodi paid for her Miata. I think her sister said her mother gave her money for it. The older Honda she had couldn’t have been worth much. She called it “Precious”. Where did it end up. Does anyone know? Did someone come to look at it to buy it? Also, can anyone confirm what JVS and LDW said about Jodi getting the Miata from a boyfriend and that she was going to give it back to him. If this was the case did someone tell her not to accept it as a gift or did she decide this on her own and then went to her mother to help her pay for it. She made a point to tell her friend she couldn’t come home because she didn’t have the paperwork on it. Could she insure it without the title?
LDW made the statement about the Miata to Jim Axelrod on 48 Hours. She said that JVS told her it was a gift from a boyfriend but Jodi didn’t want it and was going to give it back. Ani Kruse said that Jodi never said anything about a gentleman buying or paying for the car and she called it hogwash.
Why did JVS and LDW have a conversation like that in the first place, I wonder? Did LDW ask how Jodi bought the Miata because she was trying to determine if JVS had bought it for her? Did JVS make up his answer about Jodi’s plan to give the car back to save face if she had accepted it as a gift from someone? Ani said that JVS wanted to make sure that everybody knew that Jodi was his. If he perceived it as a gift from another man, whether or not that was the reality, that car was going to make it hard to keep up the story that Jodi was his.
It’s interesting that LDW would make this claim on 48 Hours if she didn’t have some reason to do so. Maybe she was just going by what JVS said. I’d like to know if there was a boyfriend, and why they said there was one. I wonder if the police know who this was.
Did I read or hear somewhere that the car dealer said he was selling the Miata for a friend and that the person who bought it was buying it for a friend. Was this JVS and Jodi said no to it? She wanted to buy it herself. JVS seemed to have a lot of money to buy things and I wonder where he got it? His job didn’t pay that much. Is it possible Jodi told him about trying to talk to Angela on the day of the golf tournament when she went back to the kitchen? It still bothers me that the meth dealers committed such brutal crimes. Did they believe Jodi had stumbled onto something and targeted her?
Going by the episode the FindJodi team did on this, Angela was no longer working at the country club on June 26. Is there a resource for the information about Jodi trying to talk to her in the kitchen that day?
Beth Bednar mentions how Jodi could have been working the night of the golf tournament and that Jodi could have run into her a number of times. This was on UP AND VANISHED. But Angela said she had already left that job and was working somewhere else. The article I read said that Jodi specifically came back to the kitchen and asked if Angela Johnson was working. They said no and she stayed and visited awhile. They said she was friendly. So why would Jodi be asking about Angela Johnson. Was she a police informant? She was spending a lot of time out socializing sometimes with questionable people. Or did Jodi get addicted to pills? That seems unlikely but everyone talked about how much energy she had at the TV station. Then there’s JVS who said he had to protect her. Protect her from what?
In Bednar’s book, Lanee Good said that when she was sitting with JVS in his van at the scene of the recovery efforts he asked repeatedly, “Why did they do this to me?” She described him as beaten, angry, agitated. Who was “they?” If JVS thought someone among his associates had abducted Jodi, why didn’t he tell the police straight up that morning when he showed up at the Key Apartments talking about how he was the last person to see Jodi alive, he had the birthday tape and could prove it. Then we find him in later interviews as calm as can be saying that Jodi will be back, we just have to have patience.
Correction 1st sentence. It should read Angela could have been working.
If you read the note Angela Johnson wrote to Caroline Lowe about not knowing anything about Jodi’s abduction you will see an attempt to show sincerity while expressing suspicion in her signature. A graphologist could explain her personality just from this signature. Notice how she puts a period after her signature. She also breaks the rules where the margin is concerned. I wouldn’t believe anything Angela Johnson said. They weren’t able to trace if she had actually quit her job at the country club because the manager had died. But the wait person did tell Jodi she wasn’t working the night of the golf tournament. For the money she and Honken were making selling drugs it’s interesting she had a waitress job, unless this was a way to connect to clients without being noticed.
I hadn’t heard about JVS saying why did they do this to me? Was he referring to drug dealers? Maybe that’s why he thought he needed to protect Jodi? Maybe he thought he could stop her from pursuing any information, and when they learned she asked if Angela Johnson was working that night someone let her know and they contacted JVS warning him about her snooping around. These were vicious, ruthless killers who took out anyone that could implicate them in drug trafficking, even innocent children. Angela Johnson bought the gun days before they disappeared. Some want to portray her as a victim of Honken, but she may have actually been the one who planned these murders to keep herself out of jail. She was known to call and threaten people that they would be killed if they said something. It’s too bad Jodi’s annoyance calls weren’t traced.
His statement could be taken to imply someone was out to get revenge on him but as to whether Jodi was asking questions about Honken and Johnson, Caroline Lowe, who investigated that possibility, talked to Jodi’s boss, Doug Merbach, and he said those stories about Honken weren’t even on the radar yet. No one knew yet what had happened to Honken’s victims. That only came out later. Honken had targeted persons who had become cooperating witnesses for a federal investigation. And as her colleagues have continued to point out, Jodi was a morning and midday news show anchor for human interest stories and light news features. If her colleagues thought she was the victim of drug operatives I think they would have supported efforts to continue that line of inquiry. Instead, they have said they don’t think she was involved in investigating anything of that nature.
JVS’ statement implies something has been done to him, not Jodi. I believe his interview with Robin W. was the next day and he said he’d been questioned by police twice but they hadn’t indicated he’s a suspect. I think that clip is from her interview. If police questioned him the day of, maybe he was asking why the police were doing this to him. It is a strange statement. But put in line with other things he’s said — it’s all strange.
Why the emphasis on what they were doing to him and not Jodi? Narcissistic for sure. A lot of what he was doing and saying was strange to everyone but LDW. Ani at first didn’t think he would hurt Jodi and then later wasn’t so sure. Still, it was reported that Jodi went back to the kitchen to inquire about Angela Johnson at the Country Club that night before her abduction. He made comments about Jodi saying what she would cut from the birthday tape while they watched it that night. and laughed. I would think that Jodi was professional enough to not want anything inappropriate on tape. Even allowing the boaters to video Ani and her dancing on their boat seemed out of character for her. Then there’s the report that someone was pounding on her door that night. Maybe she took the tape and JVS wanted it back.
His statement about how they were going to cut certain portions of the tape turned out to eerily foreshadow that those portions would indeed be cut: they are probably the exact clips that we have all seen on our screens. The way I see this case with what I think happened is that it’s a tragedy of people not knowing or understanding what they’re about to be caught in. Some of the greatest literature deals with jealousy and betrayal, such as Shakespeare’s Othello, the passage in Jane Eyre where Mr. Rochester tells Jane about how someday her quiet existence will become whirl and tumult; the biblical first murder where even God favored one person’s gift over another, which was intolerable. That’s why when people say that the person of interest wouldn’t have done it because Jodi was worth more to him alive, I would argue that her killer did not see it that way. Incomprehensibly to us that person felt justified; they righted a wrong. They imagined they were the wronged party.
By now they know better; they’ve had almost 26 years to know. Look at the video again. She was radiant. She’d also had plenty to drink, as did everyone else. We should all be able to cut loose now and then. She thought she was in the company of friends, of someone who said he was looking out for her. She did not deserve what happened to her.
I have both literature and theology in my background so I apologize for the impromptu lecture. I guess we all see things through a certain lens and that’s mine. I could be full of it, too. But I say again, it’s not too late for someone to come forward and tell the truth and begin to live with integrity. Integrity, even if it comes late, is far greater than getting away with something could ever hope to be. Let her family have the solace of bringing her home to rest.
I once read in What Ever Became of Sin, by Menninger that betrayal is the most serious sin not just because it violates trust and betrays integrity but because it breaks the heart. Those closest to Jodi and JVS felt he was wanting more from her. They also knew Jodi didn’t feel the same way. It’s true that when you can’t have what you want, what you have invested so much time in, could lead to controlling, violent behavior. Jodi admitted to Robin Wolfram she knew JVS wanted more than she did when she tried to caution her about him. The fact that he was still seeing her right up until her abduction and that he announced this makes one think he was saying she was his. It could also be a way of offering up how close they were Then he backed away from talking about her unless it was to say she was okay and would be home soon. He’s distancing himself from her, one minute talking about her in the past tense and then in the present. Whatever was going on with him he seemed to be inconsistent. Maybe when he said, “Why would they do this to me” he was creating a ruse that someone else was responsible. Unless of course, he knew people who might do this like the other women he was seeing who saw how he behaved at the birthday party. Or someone who he owed money and thought he had bought Jodi the car. Jealousy and money are often involved in a crime like this. Unless it was just a sex offender crime that they can’t prove I think it was someone in the community. I just hope some DNA can still solve the case. Or as you say someone coming forward.
Since I started my study of Jodi’s case I get all kinds of articles about cold cases. Most are solved by DNA, but I read about one that was solved by a deathbed confession. A mother had provided an alibi for her son and confessed before she died. If a sexual deviant did this, it seems they have no conscience or sense of remorse to appeal to but is that correct? Prior to Jodi’s case I’ve only followed a few crime stories and I know very little about the nature of deviants. Are they on a spectrum in terms of a capacity to feel? Do none of them feel guilt or remorse?
KAP, typically sociopaths and psychopaths have no remorse. That’s what separates them from the rest of us. And as such, they are the most dangerous.
There are many cases of violent criminals and murders who profess their remorse about what they’ve done. Timothy McVeigh was tended to by a priest in his last moments that he had requested. Honken converted to Catholicism in jail, and a Bishop wrote a letter in support of his appeal saying he believed he was remorseful and deserved to have his death sentence commuted. If you’ve never watched the movie Dead Man Walking it would help you understand how Faith plays a part in understanding the road to remorse. Many don’t believe the remorse is sincere. Only God knows what’s in their hearts. One of the most notorious serial killers of young men also expressed remorse for what he did. His were horrible sex crimes and violent killings. His mother and father had no explanation for what he’d done because he had a quiet, normal childhood. However, his crimes began in his childhood starting with a fascination with dead animals. I believe some sexual deviants have deep anger and hatred toward women. Where this comes from has kept psychiatrists and psychologists in business for years without any clear answer to why they are so angry. Same-sex crimes follow the jealousy motive of all crimes. Often these crimes involve a person who is having an affair and wants the other person gone. There’s often money involved that the criminal benefits from like life insurance. There are terrible crimes being committed during divorce proceedings now supposedly over child custody. If I can’t have it, you can’t either certainly applies here. You mentioned Shakespeare. It’s all there. The motivations of human beings: greed, avarice, jealousy, lust, love, envy, betrayal, and today I would add entitlement. I don’t think anyone really knows why some persons commit crimes and others never would. There are plenty of crimes committed by people of faith, some ministers, that certainly betray the tenants of their faith and yet they justify them. In the end, we’re all capable of sin. Crimes are sinful behavior and it’s been going on since the beginning of time. I’ve been reading the Old Testament. It’s eye-opening. The final thing I will say about sex crimes is that I believe most perpetrators enjoy stalking, raping, and hurting their victims. And often their victims are someone they feel they wouldn’t be able to have. Then there are the sex crimes committed in families. I don’t think the perpetrators believe they are doing anything wrong and don’t consider themselves sexual deviants. They act on impulse and secrecy because there would be societal punishment for these crimes and not because they have concern for their victims.
I saw Dead Man Walking and I did a lot of reading about it. I admired the compassion of Sister Prejean. But I remember reading that at least one of the families was upset by the attention and sympathy for the convict and felt that their child’s death and their grief was less important to the public. I thought a lot about that. And I think they were right. Whether his remorse was real is debatable. I am not for the death penalty. But I think people like him could be manipulating others around them right up to the end. It’s true that no one can really know the heart of another. If any of the aforementioned had expressed remorse and turned themselves in before getting caught, it would be meaningful. Afterward, I’m not so sure. Every day those family members have to live with what happened to their loved ones. A special kind of hell.
KAP I thought of a case you might be interested in to help you understand the sexual deviant. He is Colonel Russell Williams, a highly decorated Canadian Air Force pilot who flew Prime Ministers and the Queen. He also raped and murdered two women and sexually assaulted many more. He stalked them and broke in at night. He had a fetish for wearing women’s underwear and took videos of his crimes and collected underwear that he dressed in and took pictures of himself. When he was finally caught his first concern was for his wife. In fact, he confessed and asked them to please keep her out of it and not go to their house. At his sentencing, he did show remorse, but it seemed more about his status as a fallen colonel and reputation than the remorse for his victims and their families. There have been many shows done on this perpetrator. What was his motivation for committing these crimes. Some speculate it was about power and control because he attacked a woman officer. But it seemed the basis for his crimes was about his sexual identity and fetishes. He was outwardly a strong, confident, accomplished military officer. Underneath he was hiding secrets. Did he want to be a woman? Was he jealous of women? Did this lead him to commit horrible, humiliating crimes against them. Did he get sexual excitement from his crimes. Did he enjoy planning and carrying them out. Did he enjoy the not getting caught aspect of them until he made a mistake and finally was caught. When he knew he was caught he wanted to know how they knew it was him. He was arrogant enough to believe he would never be caught. Most would say power, control, dominance, and anger toward women were motivations for his crimes. But he loved and protected his wife. Maybe his inability to reconcile his sexual identity and his masculinity led in part to these crimes. However, there are many men with conflicted feelings and fetishes who don’t sexually assault, rape and murder.
So again, there was only remorse after he was caught. And it sounds like it was more for himself than his victims. Yes, many people struggle with the same things and do not do what he did. The arrogance, believing that no one could catch him, is sickening. Fortunately he and others like him are wrong.
KAP I share your concern for the victims and families over compassion and forgiveness for the perpetrator. Whenever I hear a victim’s family member say they forgive the murderer of their loved one I ask myself if I could ever do that. So many say they do it for themselves so they can live free and not dwell on the crime. They don’t want to live with hatred. I recall Elizabeth Smart saying she forgave her abuser and never thinks about him. That was her way to move on. She practices what her faith has taught her to do. But she also speaks to victims and has made a big difference in helping them heal and move on. I think the Shawshank Redemption is still such a popular movie because it dealt with the topic of redemption. It’s hard to accept that even the worst of criminals deserves redemption. I leave that to God. My concern is with the victim. This is why I hope Jodi’s abductor is caught. Someone knows something. If they are not in jail they are out there. You asked if they have a conscience or feel remorseful. It’s rare that any give up their freedom to confess to a crime. Many have committed several crimes. A few have admitted to a crime another is being accused of because they are in jail and aren’t losing anything. As Red said in the movie. I’m the only guilty man in Shawshank.
And I will always say that no one is ever completely beyond compassion or redemption. I believe in restorative justice when possible. I do respect the victims and families in their decision to offer forgiveness or not. I think that is their call.
Chief Brinkley said we’re close and I believe him. There is someone out there that has something or knows something that could be the final piece to bring it all together.
Is it Steve Ridge who will help solve this case?
Paris, LOL, are you trying to provoke me here? You know, if Steve Ridge helps solve this case I will just be so glad that it is solved. I will admit how terribly wrong I’ve been. I will admit maybe I’m terribly wrong now. Maybe we just need to have what people call a come-to-Jesus moment. A reckoning about his tactics. They come across as major breaks that will change everything and solve the case with arrests made on the next anniversary. Then we hear nothing. It’s high drama and then crickets. He needs an editor, perhaps.
You are right KAP, Steve Ridge has an epiphany about every 6 months, and then “dead air”. Perhaps he’s looking for his 15 minutes of fame. But he also might have something. You never know.
I was thinking about what Lanee said the morning of Jodi’s abduction. She said JVS was upset and agitated when he said why are they doing this to me. What if JVS was into something illegal? What if he owed someone money and they threatened to hurt Jodi? Did he act hopeful and said she’ll be back because he believed it. Or was this all part of his avoiding the truth. I know he passed a lie detector test. I just hope one of those questions was do you know who abducted Jodi?
There is one clip of him from those interviews when he comes across as sincere. I’m going from memory here but he says something like, “My heart says she is somewhere. And she can’t get a hold of us.” I’m still gullible enough that if someone starts talking about the heart I can get sucked in. Deconstruct that comment though and what is he saying? Obviously, she is somewhere. What does that mean? I think he’s trying to say that he thinks she’s alive. If he had any idea where she was or if he knew someone might have been trying to get back at him, he should have told police immediately to help find Jodi. Then in another clip where he’s talking about how we just have to have patience and Jodi wouldn’t want us to be down, he looks bored. He sounds bored. There is no sense of urgency. Did he ever help look for Jodi?
“My heart says she is somewhere. And she can’t get a hold of us.” Perhaps John V is telling the truth; Jodi is buried somewhere, and that’s why she can’t get ahold of us. It’s no wonder the retired federal prosecutor said he could build a case file around John V. In fact, Jodi’s case is starting to remind me of Paul Flores and the Kristin Smart case. It’s staring you right in the face, but yet, there’s not enough evidence for an arrest.
Paris, I think this is spot on.
Thanks.
I think there was one account of a search for Jodi that Ani or Tammy organized but there was no mention JVS participated. He seemed excited to let the police know he was the last to see Jodi. But then seemed agitated and upset telling Lanee he didn’t know why someone would do this to him. He makes comments that are almost cliches regarding Jodi’s abduction. Maybe he was trying to be positive she would be back, but once he saw the crime scene it should have alarmed him. He says Jodi wouldn’t want people crying and grieving. He says he’s having a kegger to celebrated passing the lie detector test. Did he think he might fail it. When he said she’s out there and can’t get back, but he’s sure she will. I hope he didn’t harm her, but this is what most perpetrators say when they have committed a crime. They also don’t look for the missing person. His words didn’t match his behavior. Didn’t Jodi ever confide in him about being stalked or getting nasty phone calls. What did he do about it? There’s no mention of that either. She needed protection. Did he give her any?
“He says Jodi wouldn’t want people crying and grieving”. Really John V? I mean, really? First of all, how would you know that? Second, I would cry and show emotions if I lost my friend to an abduction, and I would assist in a search party as well. John V did neither. But instead, he insists he was the last person to see Jodi. If I can’t have her, then no one can. Same story all over again. Are you listening 48 Hours and Dateline?
Thinking of Jodi and her family this Memorial Day and sending a prayer out that this case will be solved and she will be brought home. Justice for Jodi.
Ditto.
I’ve been wondering something for the longest time. Something whey back. If Jodi took notice of a TRUCK following her on her Jogs and Walks, why was it that she never bothered to get a plate number? Simple thing I know, and I’m sure it’s been debated many times before. And I can understand and sympathize with the fear an all washing over her in those creepy moments, but don’t you just wish sometimes that she would have gotten more than just the Truck’s color. It’s SO odd how not doing such a small thing can alter a persons fate. That freak, or those freaks, would’ve thought I was stalking them had that’d been me. Of course I can say that now, who’s to say what my reaction would’ve been under those circumstances. On second thought, I’m pretty sure I would’ve turned the tables real quick. I hate people who try to intimidate others. I use to hate people riding my rear bumper in traffic for a long time, until some drunk finally rear-ended me. After that I realized that that’s what I was trying to prevent all along. ‘Cause after it happened I didn’t really care much anymore. We’re coming up on another Anniversary of her abduction. That’s a lot of years.
Maybe there was no license plate.
The police report and follow up by the FindJodi team references one incident of a small white pickup truck. She was walking with a friend and according to the detective’s later recollection, she said the person stared at her but she couldn’t see the person well. It could be that she and her friend were trying to identify the person instead of looking for the plate number.
In hindsight, we all wish we would have done things differently. It is too bad she didn’t get plate numbers. I wondered if the retired investigator who worked on the case so long came to the conclusion that two young juveniles abducted Jodi based on this and another report. I believe in one report they said they yelled things at Jodi as they drove by. I wish he had been more specific in explaining his reasons for coming to this conclusion. There had been another abduction and killing of a girl in Northern Minnesota where two young men abducted, raped, and killed a girl walking to her home. In that case, they believe they randomly targeted her.
Are you referring to the Feldhaus email posted in the Forum? There’s an argument over that email and I don’t know whether that was his final conclusion or not. If it was, it seems weak to me. Even if some guys yelled something as they drove by, that’s not an uncommon occurrence whether you’re a local celebrity or not.
I don’t think Jodi’s case was random. The reason is the perpetrator(s) waited more than an hour extra to abduct her, because she was late for work. That not only shows intent, but it shows there must be a motive for her abduction, other than some random sick wacko who wanted her.
There was also the comment by the apartment manager who said she thought she heard two men’s voices in the parking lot that morning. But then I read another one where she said she didn’t hear or see anything.
The problem I have with the two juveniles theory is that generally one of them would have said something to someone. That’s usually how those cases are solved. Then one confesses to blame the other. Someone would know some information about their whereabouts that morning and could offer some information if they were suspicious about their behavior. ft’s rare they wouldn’t tell someone. If not a girlfriend, then bragging to a friend about the crime.
I agree, it seems doubtful juveniles would have been able to keep that a secret. I’ve wondered about the two men’s voices. And then there’s the voice Jodi’s neighbor heard the night before, saying, “Jodi, open the door, I know you’re in there.” The neighbor didn’t recall the time. Maybe Jodi actually had gone over to watch the video and it didn’t end well. Instead of “we chuckled, we laughed, we giggled, we hee-hawed” maybe she left abruptly and was angry enough to refuse to open her door when he knocked. It’s even hard to imagine Jodi angry because we hear about how fun loving she was all the time. Bednar’s book gives the Optimists Creed that Jodi had framed and one of its lines is “To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.” That’s inhuman, if you ask me. I’m not a fan of positive thinking. I work with people who see a lot of trauma in their work in a culture that asks them to be strong and the result can be tragic if they feel they can’t tell anyone about their pain. I think that all the so-called negative emotions have been given to us by evolution or creation, depending on your philosophy, for a reason. We have a full emotional range for a reason.
And then there’s the voice Jodi’s neighbor heard the night before, saying, “Jodi, open the door, I know you’re in there.” I have never heard of this before. If this is true, then this may be the abductor. It was someone she knew. The question is, whose voice was this? I think MCPD needs to talk to this neighbor again, get a little more definitive information. Or, this person who asked Jodi to open her door can turn themselves in.
Paris, this account of someone knocking on Jodi’s door saying “I know you’re in there” is in Bednar’s book. It was the neighbor who lived across the hall from Jodi. She said it was a male voice and she heard him pounding on the door as he said, “Open the door, Jodi. I know you’re in there.”
I wonder who the male voice was, KAP. This could be very important.
I agree. Maybe Jodi hadn’t really dealt with the loss of her father at such a young age. Most of her friends said she only showed the positive side and didn’t dwell on anything negative. But that energy has to go somewhere. I remember in my mid-twenties there were a lot of decisions to make and not enough ways to avoid them like dancing, traveling, and drinking. Eventually, you have to face your life and take action. Sometimes that means seeking out some help. She didn’t know what to do about an agent to look for a larger market. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to stay in broadcast journalism. She mentioned becoming a producer. My own daughter went through this and she eventually left broadcast journalism, married, and had a family. She started a career that she could spend more time with her family. I think Jodi was having similar feelings. She wanted a lasting relationship and to move up in her career. She would have had to make a bold move. She seemed stuck. I think that’s why she was spending time with JVS and going out a lot, water-skiing, and looking for people to spend time with rather than dwelling on her problems. She made a plan but didn’t really act on it. It’s as though she was waiting for the next thing to reveal itself to her. It doesn’t always work so positively. Sometimes you have to deal with the tough stuff to move on. Sometimes you have to admit how you really feel. You have to put certain people out of your life and move on. Maybe JVS was putting pressure on her in the name of his being a friend, but she knew it really wasn’t a friendship. He was just there. Those relationships are one-sided for a reason. Amy warned her he wanted something more. Robin Wolfram warned her. All people said she was very private about emotional things. So no one knows how she was really feeling. Even her closest friends or family didn’t know. They all said she seemed happy. But wasn’t that her goal?
I didn’t mean to imply in any way that any of Jodi’s behavior or feelings led to her abduction. She may well have moved on to a larger market if it hadn’t happened. Most reporters have to spend time in smaller markets for their first years before they can move to a larger market. She was good enough and I doubt her Northern Minnesota accent would have held her back. She would have overcome that. Many reporters start out in the Midwest. She was comfortable in a small city because she was from a small town and went to college in a small city. She seemed a bit tentative about moving on. You either go to the big city or you don’t.
Her focus on the bright side may have made her reluctant to acknowledge some red flags, but I agree, her behavior did not lead to her abduction. It is not in the realm of things most of us could or should have to anticipate from someone we consider a friend. Most human beings will at one time or another have to turn down a suitor and it’s uncomfortable but usually everyone moves on. I do wonder if she called her friend, Kelly, that night with some concerns on her mind. I wonder if it was usual for her to call her on a week night, especially after such a long day.
Did she make that call before she went to JVS’s or after? Or did she go to his apartment at all. That’s the mystery. We don’t know if she went there for sure. We also don’t know who was saying Jodi, I know you’re in there. Did that happen before or after she went to his apartment. We only know her friend didn’t call her back so it must have been after 10 when she arrived home and thought it was too late to call her. She overslept that we know. I want to know if she usually used an alarm clock. I’ve also thought of what a better way for JVS to get Jodi’s attention than to buy a boat he could take her water skiing. She was athletic and dedicated herself to mastering her sports, so she would’ve gone every chance she got. He spent his weekends watching her in her bathing suit and watching other guys watching her. Finally, we don’t know everything he told the police about that night before her abduction. Maybe they know it was him at her door.
Friends say she left the Country Club around 8. The call to Kelly logged in at about 8:30. It seems unlikely she would have time to stop and watch the birthday tape in 30 minutes. She could have though. The next morning when the police questioned him, the time he said she left his place veered from midnight to nine pm. Why? Where was he at midnight?
3 hours difference between 9pm and midnight is quite a discrepancy.
What time did he say she came to his house. That’s unclear. And a three-hour time span is a wide gap to try to explain. Most people know when people arrive at their home and when they leave. I don’t think he’s telling the truth about that and having the tape is proof of nothing, unless she had it from watching it with her friends that Sunday and told him she’d drop it by. He had to work the next morning and so did she so it’s unlikely she’d be out until midnight.
I just noticed something odd about the birthday tape. In the account given in Bednar’s book, Lanee Good and JVS leave the scene of the recovery efforts on the evening of June 27 and go to JVS’ house. They spend the evening watching the birthday tape. But the tape had been turned over to police that morning. Did the police make a copy and return the original to JVS? That quickly? Or was there a second copy?
Bednar’s book says that JVS, Jodi and Ani picked up a copy of the birthday tape on Sunday on their way back from Iowa City. They stopped in Clear Lake at the home of the friend whose wife had recorded it to ask for a copy of it. They had to go to another location in Mason City to retrieve the copy. If there was a second copy, wouldn’t JVS have given it to Jodi? But if Jodi had one, why was he inviting her to watch it?
Or the real story is John V invited Jodi over to see the tape, and she declined. Rebuffed. He got mad, got drunk, couldn’t sleep, and got her when she was leaving for work. What he did from there is anyone’s guess.
I’ve always felt there is something off about JVS saying I was the last to see her and I have proof. I have the birthday tape we watched the night before her abduction. But he couldn’t say exactly what time they watched it or when she left his house. That’s a bad alibi if you can’t lock in a time. He didn’t seem to be offering an alibi as much as he was placing himself into the investigation. I think Jodi only saw him briefly if at all that night. I also think she either was given a copy of the tape or was promised one, after all, it was her birthday. I think it was odd she wrote in her journal that cameras were clicking and videotaping going on at the party. I’m not a picture person myself so that would have bothered me, but Jodi seemed to like to have her picture taken. She was very photogenic. I would think Jodi would have been guarded about her professional career. Did JVS intentionally not give her the tape? Was she worried about the one the boaters took too? Sometimes when you’re drinking what looked like just fun looks different through sober eyes. There’s a reason the police took his tape as evidence. Maybe Jodi had a copy of the tape in her bag and was going to do something with it at work that day. JVS maybe didn’t know about this and thinks his copy was the only one.
He has no real alibi or timeline that makes sense. Unfortunately JVS’ neighbors who lived on the lower level of the duplex were away that night, just like Jodi’s ground floor neighbor was. They might have seen/heard something otherwise. I wonder if those absences, though, were noted by him and if that had any bearing on when this happened. I tend to think it was not planned in advance, except maybe by a few hours.
And remember KAP, the perpetrator waited an extra hour or more to abduct Jodi, whether planned or not. This is significant because it shows there was a motive. We just don’t know what the real motive was, other than an abduction took place as you have previously alluded to. But I still feel there is more to this story than meets the eye.
How about this Anonymous: Jodi was trying to get the tape back from the boater, and instead, she was abducted. Is that a no-brainer, or what? You are right, the tape could have exposed Jodi as a wild, partying drunk that she didn’t want revealed. But then again, she frequented bars, so perhaps her alcohol addiction wasn’t a secret.
Did she arrange to buy the tape from the boater then change her mind? It is a possibility. One thing is certain. She didn’t open the door to whoever was knocking on it. She must have had a reason. This was before “Girls Gone Wild” but someone as career-oriented as Jodi wouldn’t want a tape out there where she could be seen as unprofessional.
I agree. The only way I believed it was planned is if someone was stalking her or it did have something to do with drugs. I still keep thinking about why she would have gone to the kitchen at the country club and asked if Angela was working. I can’t find where I read that, but I know they told her no and that she visited with them and was friendly. What was her interest in Angela? Did JVS know she had asked about her? Did someone get back to Angela that she was asking about her? What were the police looking for on that tape? Maybe they just wanted to interview everyone at the party. Maybe if they had another copy of that tape they wanted to compare them.
Maybe asking whether or not Angela was working was just a greeting type of question. You know, when someone walks up to you trying to make small talk or break the Ice. They ask a question just to segway into a small conversation, small talk, just a thought. And I’m guessing that the Police were looking for anything and something out of the ordinary on that tape. They were looking for that ONE face in the crowd that isn’t suppose to be there. That face or behavior that draws that RED FLAG warning. Given that we are where we are in this case I’m assuming they didn’t see that THING. It’s also the same kind of thing that makes you wish there was a SITE that existed where they would post the entire footage of that PARTY. The Police may not have seen that THING or that FACE. But what if someone ( Ordinary Citizen) would go to that site and see that video and see that FACE or THING that the Police have possibly been missing and overlooking all this time. They may see that Face that should not be at that Party. They may have knowledge connected to that face in that crowd that shouldn’t be there. Knowledge to a question that the Police have asked but haven’t been able to answer. Even more, knowledge to a question that they haven’t even thought to ask. Really, how can a simple video of a party be considered such a huge piece of private evidence if everybody already know’s it’s out there. What if solving this thing is just that simple. Someone out there seeing that one face and saying, “Hey, I know that guy, and I know what he said he was going to do to that Lady”.
Good points, Past-Dreamer. How long was Jodi abducted after this party?
I would also like to know if Jodi had talked to people before that day at the golf course about the nasty or naughty phone calls. Could it have been someone at that party or that she had met just the week before. She wouldn’t have mentioned them if she hadn’t been worried about them even though she made light of it being part of her job. I did find the article where the one server at the country club was interviewed and she did remember Jodi coming back and talking to the staff. She said Angela wasn’t working. She didn’t seem to know she had quit because she said she didn’t work weeknights. I also looked over Angela’s letter to Caroline Lowe. I know handwriting analysis is not considered a science but then either is a lie detector test. There are two words in that letter whose letters are different than all the other letters. They show suppression and holding back. I think she knows more than she’s saying.
What are those two words, and can you put them into context for us?
I was just listening to report done a year ago about Jodi’s abduction as a cold case investigation. In it, the reporter mentions that a jogger saw a black teenager and a white male the morning of the abduction by the Key Apartments but they couldn’t say if they were related to Jodi’s abduction. Has anyone else heard this? Is it possible Tony Jackson could have been mistaken as a teenager?
I believe I read that somewhere before as well (the two teen comment) but I forget where. And I remember I had that same thought about Tony Jackson. The guy could’ve easily pass for a Teen back then. He had an athletic teen build at the time. I think my friend mentioned that same thing a couple years ago. She’d sometimes send me Links to read over.
Paris the words in Johnson’s letter are “information” and “still”. If you look at the downward, convex t crossbar it is different than all the other t’s she has crossed in the middle and straight across. It’s not surprising that her handwriting is as varied as it is as she comes off as an emotional person and one liking attention. But these two words stood out as being distinctly different revealing something she could not control. I’m not a handwriting analysis specialist but I have a good friend who did it for years.
If your friend is still active, Anonymous, maybe you should run a copy of it past them. Let him or her give you their take. Then again, if YOU noticed it and you’re confident in your own take then stick with it. You wouldn’t have noticed it if you didn’t have the eye to pick it up.
I did some research on it. It does show she is intentionally withholding something. Angela is a controlling personality who wanted others to believe she was a victim of Honken. But I believe she went along with the crimes out of her own desire to control not being caught and ending up in jail. I also believe she thought of herself as Bonnie to his Clyde. He wouldn’t have provided more information to the authorities than he had to because she was the mother of his child. I believe she knows more than she has said about all his and her activities.
I doubt if anyone knows how many people Angela Johnson and Dustin Honken killed. The 1993 killings were to make sure they couldn’t testify against them. The children were killed in cold blood execution-style like their mother and her boyfriend. They told them to pack their bags. Why? They didn’t show them or their mother any mercy. These killings were done to keep any evidence from going forward in their trial. They had two more years to make and deal drugs. So it is possible Jodi found something out, or was investigating something on her own and was targeted by them in 1995 because they thought she knew something. Did anyone ever eliminate JVS as having any connection to them in Mason City or Arizona where Honken made his meth he sold in Mason City? Was it just a coincidence that JVS moved to Arizona and that Jodi had written about possibly moving there in her journal? Was Arizona on both their minds? Had JVS suggested it?
Anonymous, I have come across comments that posited a Mason City-AZ drug connection. I recall that one comment said several Mason City people seem to have moved to Arizona. I’ve wondered about this and about how one person of interest seemed to have money for things like boats and real estate beyond what his job would afford. Was he getting money from something else? Overall, I don’t know any more than what I find from the same sources we’re all searching. I’m going by what the FindJodi investigation has shown in terms of Jodi not likely having information that would have made her a target. I’ve wondered whether someone among her associates could have been on the periphery of the drug trade and put her at risk because of their activities. Not sure why they’d go after her, though, and not him.
Just their knowing she may have been asking questions, or someone suggesting she was asking questions would have put her at risk. I have wondered the same things about JVS’s and his seeming to have more money than his job would suggest he should have. Did Jodi discover something or ask him about something?
ARIZONA, sounds like a lovely place. Hope this isn’t looked at as Racial Profiling but that 800 pound Elephant in the Blog just seems to keep popping up. Arizona DOES Border MEXICO, right? I’m sorry, every time anybody mentions JVS moving to Arizona that’s one of the first things that comes to mind. It’s proximity to Mexico. And the whole Drug THEME in the middle of all of this mess.