Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Lipstick, High Heels & Purse Only Clues as TV Star Jodi Huisentruit Vanishes

Episode Date: July 16, 2021

When Iowa TV news anchor Jodi Huisentruit fails to show up for her morning show, coworkers know something is wrong. Huisentruit's red Mazda Miata is still in the parking lot, as well as other evidence that suggests a struggle had taken place near the car. Her personal items, a hairdryer, lipstick, and red high heel shoes, as well as a bent car key, were strewn about the area. Police recovered an unidentified palm print from her vehicle. Neighbors report hearing screams at about the time that Huisentruit would have been leaving for work. The popular TV personality is still missing more than two decades later. Joining Nancy Grace today: Joann Nathe - Victim's Sister Wendy Patrick - California prosecutor, Author: “Red Flags” www.wendypatrickphd.com 'Today with Dr. Wendy' on KCBQ in San Diego Dr. Jorey Krawczyn [KRAW-ZIN] - Police Psychologist, Adjunct Faculty with Saint Leo University; Research Consultant with Blue Wall Institute, Author: Operation S.O.S. - Practical Recommendations to Help “Stop Officer Suicide” (July 2021) bw-institute.com Jay Alberio - Former Commander, 27 Years Woodbury Police Department, Former Investigative Unit Manager for Woodbury Public Safety, FindJodi.com, Former U.S. Marine Corps Caroline Lowe - Investigative Journalist, FindJodi.com, "Find Jodi Podcast" CarolineLoweTV on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. How can a beautiful news anchor simply vanish into thin air? I mean, you see them every day on the screen. How can they just disappear? Well, that seemingly is exactly what happened to a beautiful young anchor, Jodi Housitry. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Skies are currently cloudy with a cool breeze setting in.

Precipitation is likely to hit later on this afternoon. Take a look at today's forecast. Today's forecast shows mostly windy and cool temperatures with scattered showers. Our high is expected to be in the upper 60s. The clouds will continue through this evening. Showers will end, but the windy and cool temperatures will prevail. St. Cloud State's increased enrollment has not been enough to make Eastman's Nautilus Center take on any dramatic changes this year. With photographer Maureen Slater, I'm Jody Husentred for UTVS News. Just hearing her voice

seemingly makes this all so real. Now you're hearing Jody's voice when she was a student reporter at St. Cloud University for the campus TV station, University TV. And she went on from there to become a rising star in the TV industry, really making her mark. The viewers were enthralled by her. They gravitated toward her, not just because of her good looks, not just because she was prepared and articulate, but she had a warmth about her that seemingly went out across the airwaves to everybody watching, beloved in her market until suddenly she just goes missing. Let me introduce you an all-star panel to help figure out where is Jodi Husenschrute? First of all, the tip line, 970-458-JODY, J-O-D-I, 970-458-5634.

With me, Jay Alberio, former commander, Woodbury Police Department, investigative unit manager, Woodbury Public Safety, former U.S. Marine. You can find him right now at findjody.com. Dr. Jory Croson, psychologist, faculty, St. Leo University consultant and author of Operation SOS. With me, Wendy Patrick, California prosecutor, author of Red Flags. You can find her at wendypatrickphd.com. And she's the host of Today with Dr. Wendy on KCBQ San Diego, investigative journalist. You can also find her at FindJodi.com, and she is the founder of the Find Jodi podcast. She's also at Caroline Lowe TV. Caroline Lowe joining us, but first to a very special guest joining us.

This is Jodi's sister, Joanne Nathie. Joanne, thank you for being with us. Well, thank you again for having me. Joanne, it's unfathomable to me how someone that is so present in the lives of her local TV community can just disappear. It's like someone just cut off the TV and she's gone and that's the end of it. It seems very, very surreal. Yeah. We never, you know, anticipated anything like this ever happening.

We thought Jodi would be safe in Mason City. It wasn't that big of a community. And she took a lot of safety courses and stuff, and she was careful. She really was. She wanted to have a good reputation in the community. And, yeah, we were just stunned. I mean, when it happened in 95, and, of course, it's been really hard on everybody, not just the family, it's friends.

She meant a lot to so many people. Do you remember when you first learned Jody was missing? Yeah, I remember it very well. What happened? Well, we were on a bus trip up north, my mom and aunt, just with a group of ladies, you know. And we were going to this casino because 95, the casinos, well, they had started prior to 95. But anyway, it was going to be a fun day.

And so we were up in Walker, Minnesota, and then they asked us to come to the room when we got there and that there was an emergency phone call. It was shortly after we arrived. And so we came in and they said it's from Mason City. And right away my mom said, oh, no, Jody. And we thought maybe she'd been in a car accident. That's what I thought. And she'll be okay. But then when Halverson said, oh, she's missing, Joanne, are you sitting down?

And I said, missing? Well, we'll find her. You know, there's some mistake. Why would she be missing, you know? And, but then we got pretty nervous about it all, of course. And we left, they provided a vehicle for us to go back to Long Prairie. They brought us. It was quite a drive, too.

But, yeah, it was very hard. Then we got back and nobody had found her, you know, by the end of the day. And so then we were getting very worried. But we thought it would be that it was some kind of a mistake that she would be found and she'd be okay. That was our original thought. You know, to Dr. Jory Croson, psychologist, faculty, St. Leo University, joining us. Dr. Jory, I know I'm projecting right now, but I've also seen it with many, many other crime victims.

When I first was told my fiance was dead, at first I thought there was some kind of a mix-up and if I could just get to him, I could fix it and I could get him to the hospital and everything would be okay. I thought there'd been a car crash, just like what Joanne Nathie is saying about Jody Houston Schrute. And I know you hear her saying, well, we thought it was a car accident. Then we thought missing, well, there's just was a car accident. Then we thought missing. Well, there's just some mix that we're going to, we're going to fix this. Why does our mind, why do our minds go to something that we can comprehend?

Like I couldn't comprehend that Keith had been shot five times in the face and the neck and the head and the back. That was hard for me. That would never have occurred to me that that could have happened. Just like with Joanne Nathie, Jody's sister, she immediately thought, oh, there's been a car crash. Missing? What? This is wrong. We're going to get this all straightened out. Why is that? What is that? It starts off as like a protective mechanism for ourselves, you know, to try to make some positive sense out of it. You know, the term we use is closure.

And it's not like closing up the, you know, the event, but it's trying to make sense out of ambiguity. And, you know, you think of, well, maybe it was a car accident. They're okay. They're going to be found. You continue to put the positive perspective on it. And it helps kind of keep you stabilized. So as you take in more information, you can better assess it and apply it to the situation. Is it some sort of a defense mechanism?

Well, I call it more of a protective mechanism, you know, trying to keep, you know, that stress level down so you can keep a rational cognitive process going on with the information that you're taking in. You know, some people, they react, you know, just where they totally break down and, you know, they're not able to do anything. Guys, take a listen to our friend Ross Kyrgios, KSTP-TV. Sounded like I had just woken her up. Amy Coons called Jody's apartment at 4 a.m. The morning Jody disappeared. I wondered if anything was going on, like maybe somebody was in her apartment. You know, I listened for other voices.

Jody had said she had overslept and would be right in. At 4.20 that morning, tenants hear screams in the parking lot. Jody is never heard from again. I honestly feel like I listened to every tiny little detail and nothing sounded out of the ordinary. Police found Jody's keys, shoes, and earrings scattered next to her sports car. They're only physical evidence. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Joining you right now,

Caroline Lowe, investigative journalist. You can find her at findjody.com. She's even founded a podcast called Find Jody Podcast. You can find her also at Caroline Lowe TV. Caroline, thank you for being with us. You've been on the case for some time. Let's start at the beginning. What do we know of the last time that Jody was seen alive? No, wait, no. Let's start with the scene. Let's start with her place where she was. What do we know? What we know is it appears that whatever happened to Jodi happened in the parking lot right adjacent to her building. It looks like there are about 12 steps from Jodi's building to her car that she was most likely ambushed, attacked from behind.

Okay, wait, are you talking about her building where she lived or her building where she worked? From where she was running late, as we heard Amy Coons, her producer, say. She was running late, and so she's rushing to her car. She's carrying her things she needs to get ready for work. Most likely her hair was wet being so late, and she had a blow dryer with her. Somebody attacked her from behind, and from all signs that we can tell there were signs of a struggle she was dragged easterly according to the police you know what i'm going to break everything down that you're saying not in a bad way caroline low in a good way but i'm drinking from the fire hydrant right now too much too fast that's a lot of information and caroline low you're one of the experts in this

case along with jay alberio and Joanne Nathie. So the rest of us are playing catch up with you. So pardon me, please, but you're going to have to endure what I put every cop, every sheriff, every medical examiner, every investigator through. I got to go through it one fact at a time and digest it and trying to make sense of it. Guys, we're talking about a beautiful TV anchor that goes missing, Jody Huston-Schoot. Take a listen to our friend Jim Axelrod. The anchor of KIMT's 6 a.m. newscast. She usually arrived at work by 3.30 in the morning. If she's not there between 3.30 and 4, I give her a call and say, hey, are you awake?

Producer Amy Koons noticed nothing unusual when she called and woke Jodi up about 10 after 4 that morning. She was asking about the show. She was concerned about the show and she said, I'll be right there. But at 5.30, still no Jodi. And this being a time before cell phones,

Amy tried her at home again and got her answering machine. At 6 a.m., Amy had to step up and deliver the news in Jody's place. She loves her show. She calls it her show. You know, she wouldn't miss it for anything. The police were called shortly after 7. When they arrived at Jody's apartment, she wasn't home. But they found her shoesody's apartment, she wasn't home, but they found

her shoes, hairdryer, and keys scattered on the ground near her beloved red Mazda Miata. You are hearing our friend Jim Axelrod at Find Jody, CBS 48 Hours. The search on for Jody, who's in truth? Let me go back to Caroline Lowe, investigative journalist. Caroline, let's start again at the beginning. Now, you're telling me she was leaving, you believe she was leaving her apartment building that morning. She was running a little late for work. Her hair was still wet because she had a hairdryer with her. I assume that was found in the parking lot. You're telling me she was only 12 feet out from her apartment or 12 feet from her vehicle. And how would you know she was dragged behind? That information came years ago from police investigators.

She was dragged easterly. They saw marks in the silt, if you will, and they believe that that's what happened, that she was dragged easterly most toward Kentucky Avenue, which is the main road going by the key apartments where Jody lived. With me, former commander, 27 years, Woodbury Police Department, Jay Alberio. Jay, tell me what you know of the morning Jody goes missing. An examination of the photos that the media had, the information that the Mason City Police had put out there in the past. So based on all that, my interpretation and from the facts is that Jody was at her car

and it appears that she was attempting to put the key in the door lock to open the door to her car when she was grabbed, more likely from behind. Because there's indications that the key that she had was bent, which tells me that she had the key in the door lock when she was grabbed. So the force of somebody grabbing her pushed her towards the front of the car, possibly, and bent that key. And also, the driver's side mirror on the door was also bent forward. And again, that indicates there's a struggle taking place.

And the perpetrator has grabbed her and has taken her towards the front of the car away from her apartment building. You know, and the examination, we've been down there, we've driven through the parking lot and looked at the scene. Because the scene will tell you volumes of what happened. And it's a very tight parking lot where Jody's car is parked. That's really interesting. To Wendy Patrick, prosecutor, author of Red Flags at WendyPatrickPhD.com. I never was so arrogant as to try a case in front of a jury without having gone to the scene. In fact, very typically, obsessively gone to the scene many, many times, often on my off time, looking at it, trying to make sense, reenacting in my mind what happened, who could see what or not see.

And in court, Wendy, it made all the difference because I've had many defense witnesses take the stand under oath and state what they saw or didn't see. And intimate knowledge of the scene makes it very easy to say something like, well, wait a minute. Isn't there a big tree and a hedge around the building? So you're saying you could see through the hedge what happened at the front door? Is that what you're telling me? You have to know the scene, and we're just hearing that from Jay Alberio. Yeah, no, that's huge. And I usually go as soon as possible after the crime was committed because, especially in a case like this where you have an incident in the morning, you want to know when exactly the sun came up, when people would be out walking their dogs, when you'd see the joggers, when you would be able to have seen the evidence left behind. You know, we all know the first few hours after a kidnapping or an abduction are the most critical, the most crucial, because that's when the bad guy or whoever abducted the victim is

able to make the escape. So, yes. And you're also right. It gives you enhanced credibility in front of not just the jury, but also the judge to where you are the one in the courtroom that has done your homework. You've been there and you're in the best position to be asking these questions. It also helps you catch liars. But in this case, we're hearing Jay Alberio and Caroline Lowe describe what happened. And the scenario is really important. Now, what have I learned? I've learned that she was most likely attacked from behind. What does that mean? Either it was somebody she didn't know, somebody that felt they had to sneak up on her in the sense that maybe it was someone she did know, but they had bad dealings, so they had to sneak up on her. It tells me that she fought tooth and nail, that she had almost

made it to her car because we hear Alberio describing how the key to the car was bent, suggesting she had gotten it in and it was pulled away with such force, it bent the key to the car was bent, suggesting she had gotten it in and it was pulled away with such force, it bent the key. Now, we are hypothesizing what happened, but there's a lot of evidence to prove that. Take a listen to reporter Lee with ABC6KAAL. What happened to Jody? Outside of Jody's apartment, investigators found evidence of a struggle. Her personal items scattered in the parking lot. Jewelry, shoes, and a bag near her red convertible. And perhaps one of the most important pieces of evidence, a broken key.

As Jodi's morning producer, morning assistant producer, I was the last one to speak with her before she disappeared. Amy Coons was working that morning. Jodi disappeared. She tells police Jodi was often late for work. And that morning she called Jodi and says Jodi answered and told her she was on her way in. We still have our jobs to do and we just have to get the show on the air. Coons went on to anchor that morning in Jodi's place. It wasn't until hours later that a phone call was made by the station to police that Jody never arrived to work. Oh, man, man, that is critical to Joanne Nathie. This is Jody's sister. They didn't call for how many hours? Those are critical hours in finding Jody. Yes, that's true.

I'm sure they just, well, maybe she overslept and she would be in. That's what I've understood. But it was a critical time period. It's too bad that they didn't call. But, you know, I don't know. It happened. It happened. The cards were dealt, and we're working with what we've got.

Certainly Amy Coons never thought that Jody was being abducted. Of course. She just thought she had overslept, you know, or something. I don't know. It's very confusing on that part. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Caroline Lowe, we lost a lot of time with him not calling police. But isn't it correct that, you know, I heard another co-worker say that Jodi was never late to work. So I've got a conflicting report on that.

Well, is that significant? Yes, because if she was never late to work and she was late this morning, that is what we call, quote, routine evidence, evidence of habit or routine. It's very hard to break. You know, when you're in the TV business, you can't be one minute late or there'll be an empty chair sitting there. You need, if you're 15 minutes early, you're late. So I'm curious about that. And I'm also curious, the coworker said, Caroline, that they called her and she said, I'm on the way. Is that correct? We have no information otherwise. And that's what police have reported.

So I guess guessing that they've checked the records to verify that. But to back to Amy, Amy said that she was basically crashing to get the show on. She was initially just kind of angry at Jodi that she'd overslept. And she told me that just the other day, one of her biggest fears was she would lose her job if she didn't get that show produced and on the air. Yeah. She never imagined. Yeah.

She's right about that. Because people would tune in and there'd be nothing there. So yeah, she would probably have lost her job. Another question to Caroline Lowe. Very often I would take clothes, shoes, makeup, whatever jewelry that I was going to wear that night with me in my hands in a bag, in a backpack, folded up with me. So I'm assuming that everything that was found in the parking lot, when we hear hair dry or shoes and all that, that doesn't mean they came off her feet. That means to me, that's what she was going to wear onto the air. Guys, we're talking about Jodi, who's in truth, just 27 years old, that goes missing seemingly into thin air.

So, Caroline Lowe, what can you tell me about all the items that were scattered in the parking lot? What we know is there were a pair of red high heels, which would seem to suggest that Jodi was likely wearing something with red or all red that day. We don't know exactly as far as we know what she was wearing has never been found. There was hairspray, there was a blow dryer, there are earrings. So the basics of what you would wear to go on the air. What's missing is a bag that she carried it in. We've never heard anything about whether that was located. Presumably, Jody did not run to her car carrying all these things in her arm. Doesn't make sense.

So where is that bag? Where is the purse that she normally would have had? We don't know. And we also know that she was in a hurry because she was running late. So she may have grabbed things and then they came out of her hands. But I find that also odd. Why would she be carrying earrings and other things in her hands and trying to open up the car door? Guys, take a listen to our Cut 7A. This is Brian Mastry, Evening Anchor KIMT. Listen.

Jodi wasn't there. And so an associate producer, Amy Coons, calls Jodi at her apartment. Jodi sounded as though she had just woke up and told Amy, okay, I'm getting around. I'll be in. So then the time passes. It's now 4.30. It's now five. Amy, I'm assuming, always thought, well, Jody probably just fell back asleep. Jody not coming in right on time wasn't necessarily unusual from talking to the people who worked in the morning. She wasn't always right on time. Show starts at six o'clock without Jody. And so it was just a few minutes after seven o'clock right after she had gotten off the air. Amy Koons calls Mason City Police for a welfare check.

Okay. Can I clarify something there? Yes, please do. Amy did not make the amy did not make the phone call amy was still sitting on the set at seven o'clock when the show ended a co-worker came in she asked the co-worker to call police because she still had to do a morning update so a co-worker called the police at 7 13 first officers arrived on the scene at 7 16 interesting that makes me feel a little bit better about the

timeline because the whole day hasn't passed uh take a listen to more of our friends at kimt listen mason city police found jody's car in the parking lot of the apartment complex was maybe 20 feet 25 feet from the front door they did find her car in the parking lot and a key had been found bent. If you see that scattered, a key bent in her fairly new car, there's a palm print on the car. There's a struggle. She's been abducted. She's probably still alive. There's a three-hour window in between the phone call and the welfare check. And that's a lot of time for somebody to do something and get away. That is conventional wisdom.

If someone is killed in an abduction, very often the first three hours are the critical, that's a critical window in which you have a chance to save the person. Straight out to Dr. Jory Croson, psychologist, Faculty of St. Leo University. You know, another wrinkle in this case is that Jody Huesentru was in everybody's living rooms and bedrooms and dens and kitchens all across the viewing area. People thought that they knew her. Not only that, there are a lot of people out there that, for instance, I know this sounds crazy, Dr. Jory, that think you're sending them nonverbal messages or that

you're speaking to them in code in some way. Of course, these people have mental issues, but they believe, for instance, somebody young and beautiful like Jody Huesentruc is actually in love with them. It happens quite often, doctor. Yes, it does with, you know, celebrities or anybody that's in the public light. You know, I guess all the reporters can kind of relate to that. But the one thing is that, you know, from the psychological perspective of who did this, I mean, it seemed to be pretty well planned out.

And most people that, you know, either have those kind of delusions, I mean, they can still plan it out well, but committing it to this degree of almost perfection, you know, it was that time of day, early in the morning, they had to wait. She was late. I mean, there's a lot of things that, you know, what we don't have answers for. And I'm assuming to you, Caroline Lowe, that there were no security cameras in the parking lot? No security cameras. And as far as we know, no eyewitnesses. Oh, man. Of course, to you, Jay Alberio, it was so early in the morning that she was leaving, correct?

What time was it? We estimated from information it was about 4.30 in the morning. Yeah. There's not a lot of people out and about at 4.30 in the morning. Take a listen to our friends at KIMT. The search for Jodi was immediate. The response was overwhelming. I mean, she's in your living room every morning

in Mason City and the surrounding communities. People feel as though they know you. And so everybody wanted to help. You had dogs, you had psychics, you had so many people looking just to see if they could find clues. To Joanne Nathie, this is Jodi's sister. Do you remember the use of psychics trying to find Jody? Oh, yeah. We had telephone calls and we were on a show with psychics, too, at the beginning. Could I clarify something that always bugs me that I hear them say, like I heard this morning again, that she was late many times for work. And I never had that impression of a few times she was late for work. But Jodi was very conscientious about her job. I mean, she wanted perfection. I would not say she was late many times. A few times she was a little late, probably. She did jam pack her days

way too much. She worked, stayed up late writing thank you notes. And, you know, she just used every hour. I don't know. You know, and I was trying to clear that up earlier, Joanne Nathie, through my research and investigation of the case. I found other co-workers that said she was never late or rarely late. She was so conscientious. But, no, she was late a few times, I'm sure. Yeah. I'm glad you said that because I don't like the impression it leaves.

And more important, it factors into what happened that morning. Because she told the co-worker, I'm up, I'm on my way. Here I come. And I'm sure she was very nervous at that point because she was so conscientious. I'm sure. Take a listen to Brian Mastry, KIMT. Three neighbors apparently heard screams that morning. And none of them are able to really give an indicator about what those screams were about.

As we started to hear more and more of what happened, you got a sense that this is awful. And I don't know how this is going to turn out good. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we're talking about Jodi, who's in truth, just 27 years old, that goes missing seemingly into thin air. To Wendy Patchett, California prosecutor, author of Red Flags and host of Today with Dr. Wendy, KCBQ in San Diego. Wendy, you know, a timeline can start with something seemingly innocuous. And I will refer to a really good example where in the Nicole Brown, Ron Goldman double murder, the neighbors were first alerted by the dog.

I believe the dog's name was Akitas, as they say, mournful or plaintive. Well, that really started the timeline. I believe the dog's name was Akitas. As they say, mournful or plaintive wail. That really started the timeline. This was in the middle of the night. And here, the neighbors hear these screams, Wendy. That's right. And, you know, a lot of people would have called the police right away upon hearing those screams. And a timeline would also include people that were up at 6 a.m.

This was a morning anchor. She was in the morning rooms of the breakfast tables across this small town where more people were likely to know her, to recognize her, to know her name. It also, when you talk about a timeline, you would want to know if she had a stalker. And I've prosecuted several men who have stalked news anchors specifically, but they were news anchors that were on when they were awake. So that timeline would also sweep in everyone that would necessarily have seen her, have seen something who would have been up, who knows who she is, because they would have been awakened in a position to be not only sharp, many people are sharper in the morning, but also in a position to notice something out of the ordinary, like those screams that, as you point out, really starts that timeline. Yeah.

I mean, if you hear a scream at 435 o'clock in the morning, and there's a big difference of hearing the neighbor calling the dog and a woman screaming, I'm very surprised no one called police. But you know what? Again, that's what we're working with. They did not. Take a listen now to Ross Kyr at kstp tv jody's closest friends in mason city are for the first time talking about their suspicions because it could possibly

be someone that we know with all with all the times i've talked to detectives they feel that someone stopped her watched her know what her was, and was definitely going to plan on doing something that morning. Right up to her disappearance, this group of people socialized with Jodi. As they realized Jodi's abductor might not be a stranger, they grew uncomfortable with one of their friends. I see signals you may not have seen that make me think that there is always a possibility that it could be somebody that we know. Now take a listen to Brian Mastry and Beth Bednar, former anchor from KIMT and KAAL,

speaking to our friends at ID. Investigators start to zero in on someone who was with Jodi the night before. They knew that she had been with a friend 20 years her senior, John Van Sise. John Van Sise is considerably older than her, recently divorced and moved to Mesa City. They spent a lot of time together. Two weeks prior to her disappearance, John had a birthday party for her to celebrate her 27th birthday. It seems as though he was the last one to see Jody alive. To Caroline Lowe, investigative journalist, and you can find her at findjody.com, Find Jody podcast and Caroline Lowe TV. Caroline, who is this guy? And so he's the last one to see

her alive the night before? That's what he says. His name is John Van Sise. He was 22 years older than Jody. And just two days earlier that weekend, he and several of Jody's friends had gotten together in northern Iowa to go on a water skiing trip. In fact, she writes about him in her journal. The last thing she writes about two days before she disappeared talks about what a great time she had with John Van Sise, her other friends, Ani Cruz and Tammy Baker. So he's an older friend who spent a lot of time with her in the last couple of months before she disappeared. And to you, Jay Alberio, former commander, Woodbury Police Department.

Jay, did he he worked with her in what capacity? No, John Van Sise did not work with her, with Jody. They are acquaintances. As far as we know, John had lived in the apartment complex at one time. That's possibly where he met Jody. They became friends, had a mutual interest in water skiing. And John had a boat. So John was taking her water skiing.

And we believe that he was also helping her learn how to water ski. To Joanne Nathie, what was her relationship with John Van Sise? Well, actually, I didn't know about the guy until this all happened. She had mentioned to my mom. My mom cautioned her that she was not really dating this guy, but he was a friend, you know, and stuff. And my mom said, well, you better be careful because, you know, he might be getting romantically interested in you. Oh, we're just good friends, Jody would say, you know. So, but I, after hearing about, after it all happened,

we know that he was quite obsessed with Jody. Why do you say that? Oh, just he wanted to always be around her, and he wanted to, you know, he said he even named his boat after her, which was odd. And the friends knew that, too. They cautioned Jody. They said, Jody, are you sure that John isn't more interested in you than you think? And it was just very obvious that he was very interested in her.

Yeah. As a matter of fact, you're absolutely correct, Joanne Nathie. This is Jody's sister joining us. Take a listen to Mary McGuire, KIMT. Forced to play the role of both journalist and friend, Robin Wolfram reported on the disappearance, even interviewing the man who jody was seen with last what was his demeanor like uh joyful almost um strangely happy

and telling me how he named his boat after and how he just loved her she has no doubt in her mind that man an older gentleman who is friends with Jody is the one responsible for her disappearance. I caution Jody about their friendship. In television, we have a gut instinct about things. My gut and my instinct tells me that he's responsible. WCCO is not naming the man now living in Arizona since he has not been charged with any crime. But Wolfram isn't the only one who shares those same suspicions about him. Last March, FindJody.com, a website dedicated to the case, reported Mason City Police served him with a search warrant seeking GPS data on two of his cars. Straight out to Caroline Lowe. Caroline, what can you tell me about the search warrant served on this guy, this much older gentleman, 22 years her senior, that apparently was besotted with her.

The search warrants occurred in 2017, and they remain sealed to this day. Each year, they'll probably be resealed by a judge. Well, what the police were seeking was two vehicles associated with John Van Sise, vehicles that he did not have back in 1995. They weren't manufactured until a few years later. We don't know specifically what they were seeking. Their probable cause statement, the affidavit, is not public. What we do know, as I said, is they were after she disappeared. The possible theory is that they were seeking to see if maybe he was going to some kind of a crime scene when he was back in Iowa. He was subpoenaed before a federal grand jury in that same month where he was ordered to provide palm prints, fingerprints and DNA sample.

But we don't know. And the chief later said it did not produce any evidence. I'm guessing, Wendy Patrick, that they would want to compare. He has not been named as a suspect, number one. Let's just state that. Any potential palm prints or fingerprints, just something found on that car. Oh, absolutely. And, you know, Joanne and your other guests, what we've done is we've bumped the timeline back to even the night before. So you talk about that palm print, where it came from, who might have made it. Now we're sweeping in people that may have seen her within even the last 12 hours. And yes, you know, forensics, I know this happens a long time ago, but we still today had some of what we had even back then. Good old fashioned forensics, especially in a case like this, where that's all that they

had left at the scene. There was no footage or cell phone pinging like we do nowadays. A palm print like that would have been an enormous piece of evidence. It could have been anyone. Everybody in the area knows Jodi Husenshoot. They see her every single morning. Take a listen to Jennifer Austin, KARE11. Don't think because the world is consumed with other news that she's forgotten. Caroline Lowe is an investigative journalist and part of the Find Jodi team, a group of investigators who continue to look into the

unsolved case. What happened to Jodi? They launched a podcast this month on what would have been Jodi's 52nd birthday, hoping to keep eyes on her story and find answers about what happened the early morning of June 27th, 1995, when Jodi left her apartment late for her job anchoring the morning news. America's most highly publicized missing children. She never made it. She was very easy to follow. You knew her schedule, anchoring the 6 a.m. and noon news. Her home number, her address were even listed in the local directory.

She would have been very easy to find. What could have been done differently and can there be a save take a listen our cut 16 a this is laura lee abc6 kaal listen i can't remember jody ever being sick or late for work she's a professional journalist uh journalist then general manager john shine seen during a press conference later that day, describing a very different Jody, a devoted employee who took her job seriously. I've made it clear this case is not going to go away for us. For many decades, this case has puzzled the Mason City Police Department. What do you think you as a chief can do different than the chiefs

prior to you that have had this case under their tenure and nothing has come about? I'm not going to sit here and second guess decisions made by officers in the field 25 years ago about what they did. I will tell you that I don't believe that any of them probably thought that we would still be working this case today. Chief Jeff Brankley says bringing a fresh pair of eyes to the case could help. Cold cases, I think, are of interest to a lot of people. It's obviously a case that affected Mason City. And so if we could put some closure to that, I'm interested in doing that. To Caroline Lowe, investigative journalist, FindJody.com.

Caroline, where does it stand now? There was one reporting of a body found at a Mason City river. We don't believe it remains. We don't believe that was Jody. A PI popped up and said he had information that he is still not shared with anyone in the family. Have there been any developments, Caroline, that we could really sink our teeth into? Nancy, I really wish I could say there were. And we get tips all the time

at findjody.com, but we have no information that authorities, anybody is any closer to finding Jody Hughes and Trout today than they were almost 26 years ago. To Joanne Nathie, this is Jody's sister. Joanne, what is your most vivid memory of your sister, Jodi? Well, she was always so very caring about us. She always wanted us to be happy. That was a big interest. You know, if she was working at a resort and her time off, she'd invite us up to use the facilities. And, oh, she was just so bubbly.

She was a personality plus, you know. She probably didn't have the best speaking ability necessarily, but, oh, her personality on the air just came through. I know Doug Murbeck told me the ratings were very high. And one thing, though, she revealed too much about her personal life on the air also. But that's, you know, Jodi. She was so personable with everyone. And people felt they really, really knew her. And all you need is somebody who's not playing with a full deck to become obsessed and sitting and listening to,

you know, her daily routine. She would often talk where she went jogging and what activity she was going to do that day. And she probably went, she probably did too much of that on the air, you know, it was too personable. But they liked it. The viewers loved it. FindJodi.com. Also, Jodi's Network of Hope.org. Tip line 970458Jodi, 97045458-JODY, 970-458-5634.

The search goes on for Jody Houston Schrute. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.