Hunt for missing Midwest news anchor Jodi Huisentruit focuses on fight over unsealing evidence

Jodi Huisentruit, a 27-year-old news anchor from Iowa, went missing almost 30 years ago. Despite ongoing efforts to find her remains, a private investigator is pushing for the case records to be unsealed.

Huisentruit, originally from Long Prairie, Minnesota, was on her way to work at KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa, when she disappeared on June 27, 1995.

Private investigator Steve Ridge has been advocating for the court records to be unsealed. Recently, a judge ruled to partially unseal a 2017 search warrant related to Huisentruit’s disappearance, while keeping the supporting affidavit sealed to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation.

Ridge’s legal team sought to unseal records regarding GPS tracking devices placed on two vehicles associated with John Vansice, a person of interest in the case. The vehicles, a 1999 Honda Civic and a 2013 GMC 1500, were registered at an Arizona address where Vansice was living in 2017, but did not exist at the time of Huisentruit’s disappearance.

The judge denied the motion to fully unseal the court records, citing the need to protect the active investigation. The court emphasized that releasing certain details from the affidavit could potentially compromise the case by revealing information only the perpetrator would know.

Huisentruit’s family released a statement on the Jodi’s Hope Facebook page, expressing their opposition to unsealing the documents. They believe that releasing the information to the public could hinder the investigation and potentially harm its progress.

Despite the passage of 30 years, the judge emphasized that public curiosity alone is not a sufficient reason to jeopardize an ongoing investigation. The search for answers in Huisentruit’s disappearance continues to be a priority for law enforcement.

Huisentruit’s case remains a mystery, with no concrete evidence pointing to what happened to her or the whereabouts of her remains. She is believed to have been abducted, but the circumstances surrounding her disappearance remain elusive.

As the search for answers continues, the efforts to uncover the truth behind Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance persist, with the hope that someday justice will be served and closure will be found for her loved ones.