The disappearance of TV news anchor Jodi Huisentruit has been a mystery for 30 years. A 20/20 episode that aired in 2022 led to a tip from one of Huisentruit’s close friends, which is explored in Hulu’s three-part docuseries, Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit.
The documentary series unpacks Huisentruit’s case as detectives continue to seek answers about what happened to the young and vibrant broadcast journalist. New persons of interest are investigated, and early ones are reexamined. Scroll down to get the latest updates from Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit.
What happened to Jodi Huisentruit?
Huisentruit, who was living in Mason City, Iowa, disappeared in the early morning hours of June 27, 1995. Her KIMT-TV assistant producer, Amy Kuns, called Huisentruit around 4 a.m. to check on her since she hadn’t shown up for work. Huisentruit picked up and said she’d be in soon, but she never showed up to work.
After someone at the station called the police to do a welfare check on Huisentruit, a cop showed up at Huisentruit’s apartment complex and found a shocking scene. The news anchor’s personal belongings, including her hair dryer, a bent car key, and red heels, were scattered across the parking lot. Her red Mazda Miata was still there. In October 1994, Huisentruit had reported to the Mason City police department that she thought she was being followed by someone in a white truck.
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Sgt. Terrance Prochaska, who has been investigating Huisentruit’s disappearance for over a decade, was quick to put one misreported piece of information to rest in Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit. It was initially reported that police found a bloody palm print on Huisentruit’s car, but that is not true. A palm print was found on a pole nearby.
Huisentruit has never been found. She was declared legally dead in 2001.
Who are the persons of interest in the Jodi Huisentruit case?
The first person of interest was John Vansice, the last person to see Huisentruit alive. He showed up at Huisentruit’s apartment complex while the scene was still being processed. Vansice was a friend of Huisentruit’s and revealed that she had come over to his house the night before to watch a birthday video.
A man who was with Vansice when he drove to Huisentruit’s apartment complex after she disappeared alleged that Vansice’s first words when they met up were: “She’s gone.” Vansice supposedly told him that Huisentruit left his apartment drunk around 11 p.m., which wasn’t what he told police.
Vansice’s friend recalled Vansice being unable to tell police his name because he was so nervous. When they returned home, the friend noticed deep tire tracks going the wrong way at the end of Vansice’s alley.
Vansice, who named his boat after Huisentruit, was cooperative at first. However, he stopped talking to investigators when some items that were investigated didn’t add up. In 2017, Prochaska obtained a grand jury subpoena for a search warrant to trace two of Vansice’s vehicles. A hearing resulted in no charges against Vansice, and there have been efforts to get the warrant unsealed, but a judge ruled in March 2025 that very little would be made public. Vansice died in 2024.
The 20/20 special in 2022 was the catalyst for a new person of interest: Brad Millerbernd. Patty Niemeyer, one of Huisetruit’s friends, reached out to police about looking into her ex-husband after the episode aired. She recalled that Millbernd called her on the 10th anniversary of Huisentruit’s disappearance, which she thought was odd. Niemeyer said she is “100% positive” that Millerberned came to Mason City and met with Huisentruit. Police begin look into Millerbernd.
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Apparently, witnesses at one point had seen a white van parked in front of Huisentruit’s apartment at 4 a.m. and a man wearing a hat with facial hair was spotted acting strangely near Huisentruit’s apartment complex. Millerbernd had a white Ford Econoline van.
In Episode 2 of Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit, Niemeyer was shown a sketch of the man witnesses saw near Huisentruit’s apartment, and she was convinced the drawing looked like her ex-husband. “He needs to be looked at,” Niemeyer said.
Millerbernd and Niemeyer signed their divorce papers on June 23, 1995. Huisentruit went missing four days later. In February 2022, Millerbernd said he had taken Huisentruit out one time in fall 1994 when he visited Mason City.
Prochaska interviewed Millerbernd for 90 minutes on a separate occasion and noticed Millerbernd appeared nervous. Millerbernd didn’t ask one question about the case, but he did give his DNA and later took a polygraph test. Land in Winsted, Minnesota, near where Millerbernd used to live, was searched for any connection to Huisentruit’s disappearance. Their search turned up nothing.
Another person of interest was Tony Jackson, a convicted serial rapist who was living in Mason City at the time of Huisentruit’s disappearance. Jackson, who is in prison for multiple counts of rape, broke his silence in the docuseries about Huisentruit. “I had nothing to do with that case,” he said in the docuseries. Rap lyrics an inmate claimed were Jackson’s resulted in a search at a farm in 1998 that proved insubstantial.
Who is Christopher Revak?
Christopher Revak is a newer person of interest in Huisentruit’s disappearance. Revak died by suicide in 2009 while facing a murder charge. He was also the main suspect in another woman’s murder.
Turns out, Revak’s ex-girlfriend lived right next door to John Vansice — on the other side of the duplex! However, Revak’s ex moved out a few months before Huisentruit went missing. He remains a person of interest, but there’s no evidence that he was in Mason City the morning Huisentruit disappeared.
Has anyone been arrested in connection with Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance?
None of the persons of interest have been arrested regarding Huisentruit’s disappearance. Her case remains an ongoing investigation, with police and her loved ones still searching for answers after 30 years.
Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit, Streaming Now, Hulu