Missing in the Midwest: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit

It's just before sunrise on a June morning in nineteen ninety five in Mason City, Iowa. Jody, who's in trute, is getting ready for work. She's running late. Her producer calls her apartment and she answers a little rushed, a little behind schedule. She says, she overslept. She says she's getting ready now and she'll be there soon, and then she hangs up. A few minutes later, she walks out of her apartment down toward the parking lot. Her car is right there, just a few steps away. And somewhere in that moment, something happens, because when people start looking for her later that morning, her car is still sitting there. Her belongings are scattered across the ground, the keys bent in the door, and Jody, who's in trute, is gone. Hey everyone, and welcome back to Case Uncovered, where we uncover some of the most compelling and lesser known true crime cases. I'm your host, John Rivera, and this is Missing in the Midwest, a series where I cover missing persons cases of across the Midwest to help bring more awareness to these cases. There are thousands of missing persons cases across the country. Some receive national attention, but many do not, and every single one of those cases represents a family that is still waiting for answers. Today's case takes us to Mason City, Iowa, a smaller city in northern Iowa near the Minnesota border, where mornings start early, routines are familiar, and life tends to follow a steady, predictable rhythm. But on the morning of June twenty seventh, nineteen ninety five, that rhythm was broken. A twenty seven year old news anchor vanished just steps away from her car, and what was left behind wasn't just a missing person. It was a scene one that suggested something had gone very wrong in a very short amount of time. This is the disappearance of Jody, Who's in true. Mason City, Iowa sits in the northern part of the state, not far from the Minnesota border. It's the kind of place where people know their routines, where familiar streets and local businesses shape everyday life, and where everything tends to move at a steady, predictable pace. Mornings there don't begin all at once, They ease in slowly, and in the hours before sunrise, the city is still while most people are still asleep, the streets are quiet, businesses are closed, and everything feels like it's paused just before the day begins. For most people, the morning hasn't started yet, but for some, like Jody Who's in Trute, it already had. Jody was a morning news anchor at KIMTV, which meant her schedule didn't follow a typical routine. While the rest of the city was still asleep, she was already expected to be at the station, prepared and on air delivering the morning news. She was part of people's mornings in a way that becomes second nature. The voice in the background while coffee is brewing, the face people recognize without even thinking about it. And because of that, her presence was something people had come to expect. So when she didn't show up that morning, it wasn't just unusual, it was immediately clear that something wasn't right. Jody Who's in True was twenty seven years old and living in Mason City at a point in her life where things were moving forward. She grew up in Long Prairie, Minnesota, where she was known for being outgoing, social and naturally easy to connect with. She had a presence about her that people noticed, and that carried into the path she chose for herself. She attended Saint Cloud State University and pursued a degree in mass communications focused on broadcast journalism. Like many people entering that field, she didn't start at the top. She worked her way through smaller stations, gaining experience, learning the rhythm of being on air, and figuring out how how to connect with an audience in a way that felt natural. By the time she arrived in Mason City, she had already put in that work. She wasn't just trying to get her foot in the door anymore. She was building something that had direction. Her role at KIMT gave her visibility, It gave her structure. It gave her a routine that she followed closely, especially with the demands of a morning show schedule, and everything about her life at that point suggested stability, a routine that made sense, a career that was growing, and a future that was still unfolding, which is what makes what happen next feels so difficult to comprehend. The day before Jody disappeared June twenty sixth, nineteen ninety five didn't stand out in any obvious way. It was a full day, but a normal one, the kind of day that blends into the next without leaving behind anything that feels out of place. Jody spent much of the day at a gulf outing. It was the kind of event that brought people in the community together, local businesses, familiar faces, conversations that carried from one group to the next. For someone in her position, it wasn't unusual for her to be there. In fact, it made sense. She was part of that community. People knew who she was. She was visible in a way that naturally came with her role. After the event, her day didn't end there. She continued into the evening, spending time with people she knew, including John van Seiss. The two had plans that night, and at some point they ended up at his home watching a videotape from her recent birthday party. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, just time spent looking back at a moment that had already passed, talking, unwinding after a long day. There's nothing in that evening that at the time would have raised concern, no urgency, no clear indication that anything was wrong. Eventually, Jody went home, and that's where the timeline as far as anyone knew, continued as it always had. The next morning, June twenty seventh, begins in a way that feels small, almost forgettable. It becomes one of the most important pieces of this entire case. Just after four am, Jody is supposed to be at work, but she isn't there. Her producer, Amy notices, and that matters because Jody wasn't someone who just didn't show up. Her routine was consistent, predictable, so when she wasn't there, it stood out. Immediately. Amy calls her apartment and Jody answers. She says she's so sorry she overslept. Her voice sounds rushed, not panicked, just aware that she's behind, the kind of tone you'd expect from someone trying to make up for lost time. She says she's getting ready and she'll be there soon, and then the call ends. That moment, simple as it seems, anchors in the timeline because it tells investigators exactly where Jody was. She was home, she was alive and well, and she was about to leave. After that phone call with her producer, everything that happens next unfolds in a very small window of time, and that detail is what continues to stand out in this case, just told someone she was on her way, not thinking about anything unusual, not anticipating anything out of the ordinary, just moving through a moment that for her had likely happened dozens of times before. Oversleeping wasn't typical for Jody, but it also wasn't something that would have raised immediate concern. It simply meant she was running behind, and now she needed to move quickly. Inside her apartment, she would have been getting ready at a faster pace than usual, grabbing what she needed, finishing up, mentally, catching up to the time she had lost. There's something very normal about that moment, something familiar. Anyone who has ever overslept knows that feeling of trying to make up for lost time, moving just a little quicker, thinking ahead to what needs to happen next. And then she leaves. She steps out of her apartment into the early morning quiet of the complex, the kind of quiet that exists just before the day begins. It's still dark enough that the sun hasn't fully come up, but light enough that the outlines of everything around her are visible. Her car is in the lot, just a short distance away, not far enough to think about it. Not far enough to feel like a risk. It's a walk that should have taken seconds, a short routine movement from one place to another. And that's what makes this part so unsettling, because nothing about that walk stands out as dangerous, nothing about it suggests that something could go wrong. And yet somewhere in that short distance, in that small space between her apartment and her car, something interrupts her. Something happens quickly enough that it doesn't leave time for her to get into her car, start it, or drive away, something that changes everything in a matter of moments. Back at the station, the morning continues without her. At first, it's just a delay. Jodia said she overslept. She had said she was on her way, So for a short period of time that explanation holds. It makes sense. There's no immediate reason to think anything more than that she's running behind. But as the minutes pass, that explanation starts to feel less certain, because Jody isn't someone who simply disappears from her responsibilities. She had already answered the phone, she had already confirmed she was awake, she had already said she was leaving. So now there's a growing disconnect between what should be happening and what actually is. As time keeps moving forward and Jody still hasn't arrived, that concern begins to shift. It stops being about her being late, and it starts being about something not being right. Attempts are made to reach her again, Calls go un answered, and now there's no update, no explanation, and no indication of where she is or what's happening. By around seven am that morning, after enough time had passed that her absence can no longer be explained by oversleeping or running late, law enforcement is contacted, and from that moment forward, the situation is no longer internal to the station. It becomes something else entirely. When officers arrive at the key apartments, they're not walking into a confirmed crime scene. They're responding to a concern a missing person who didn't show up to work. But that changes the moment they step into the parking lot, because Jody's car is still there, parked where it should be, not moved, not gone, exactly where it was left, and as they move closer the details begin to stand out. At first, it's subtle, something on the ground, then another item, and another. Her belongings are scattered across the pavement, not in a way that suggests they were set down, but in a way that suggests they were left behind in the middle of something. A pair of red high heels, a hair dryer, hair spray, earrings, personal items that would have been in her hands with her, part of her routine as she left for work, but now they're on the ground, separated from her. And then there's the car. Her keys are still in the door, bent, not just left behind, but physically damaged, and that detail immediately shifts how the scene is understood. Because keys don't bend without force. That means something happened here, something physical, something that interrupted her before she had the chance to get into her car. As officers take in the full scene, it becomes clear there are signs of a struggle disturbance in the area around the vehicle, marks that suggest movement, not walking, but being pulled. And at that point the situation is no longer a question. It's no longer uncertainty. This wasn't someone leaving, This was someone being taken right there in that parking lot. In a matter of moments, as investigators began speaking with residents at the apartment complex, they started to piece together what the early morning hours may have sounded like from different perspectives, and that's where one detail comes in that continues to stand out. Some neighbors reported hearing a scream, not a prolonged disturbance, but something that carried on long enough to fully interrupt the quiet of the morning, brief, sharp enough to be remembered later, but not clear enough in the moment to trigger immediate alarm. At that hour, the world is in that in between state. People are still half asleep, moving through the early parts of their morning routines, not fully alert to what's happening outside. A sound like that can be dismissed, it can be rationalized. It can be something you hear and then move past without fully processing it. And that's what seemed to have happened here. No one immediately ran outside, no one called for help in that moment. No one realized at the time what they had just heard might have been connected to something far more serious. And when you step back and look at that, it becomes one of the most difficult parts of this case to sit with because it suggests there was a moment, a very real moment, where something was happening a moment where Jody was still there, a moment where something could have been interrupted, but it passed too quickly, and by the time this dinificance of that sound was understood, the moment was gone. As investigators continued to look into Jody's life, they weren't just focused on what happened that morning. They also had been looking at what had been happening in the weeks and months leading up to it, because in cases like this, it's not always just about the moment something happens. Sometimes it's about what was already in motion before that moment ever took place. As they started to gather information, certain details began to surface, details that on their own didn't point directly to a suspect, but together created a pattern that was difficult to ignore. One of those details involved an incident that had taken place months earlier. When Jody was out for a run. She had reported being followed by a white pickup truck, not just noticed, not just passing by, but following her in a way that made her uncomfortable enough to remember it later, uncomfortable enough that had stayed with her. It was enough that she took it seriously enough that she would live and role in a self defense class, and that detail adds another layer because it suggests that at some point she didn't feel safe, not necessarily in a way that pointed to a specific person, but in a way that made her aware, It made her cautious. And that's not the only detail that comes up. There were also reports that Jody had been receiving phone calls that made her uncomfortable, the kind of calls that aren't always reported right away, the kind that can feel unsettling without being clearly threatening. And again, on their own, those details don't solve the case. They don't identify as suspects. But when you place them next to what happened that morning, they begin to feel a little different. They begin to raise questions because now you're not just looking at a single event. You're looking at the possibility that something had been building, something that hadn't fully revealed itself yet, something that for whatever reason, came to a head that morning. Cases like this are difficult because of how quickly everything can change. Jody walked out of her apartment heading to work, following a routine she had done countless times before, and within minutes everything was different. That's why I talk about being prepared in everyday moments. Safely as a brand focused on personal safety tools designed for real life. I'm a sexual assault survivor and I personally carry the Safely Sidekick. It attaches to your keys and includes a personal alarm, flashlight, pepper spray, and a glass breaker. It's something small you can carry with you at all times. If you'd like to get your own Safely Sidekick and check out all the additional products Safely offers, visit livesafely dot co and use code Jen for ten percent off your order. Now, let's get back to the case. Over the years, this case has never gone quiet. It hasn't faded in the way so many others do. Instead, it continues to resurface through renewed investigations, new searches, documentaries, and people who keep coming back to the same time question what happened to Jody? Who's in true? Part of the reason this case has stayed alive is because from the very beginning it didn't feel like there was nothing to go on. There was a scene, there was evidence, there was a clear indication that something had happened in a very specific place, within a very specific window of time. So naturally, attention turned to the people around her, the people who knew Jody and who were in her orbit, and over time certain names began to stand out, not as confirmed suspects, but as individuals whose proximity to Jody or connection to the timeline kept bringing them back into the conversation. And this is where things start to become much more complicated. One of the most widely discussed names in this case is John van Seiss. Van Sise was someone Jody knew personally. He was older than her, and the two had spent time together socially. Their relationship has been described in different ways over the years as a friendship, as someone who was part of her circle, someone she spent time with, someone who was present in her life, and that presence matters because on the night before Jody disappeared, she was at his home. They spent time together watching a videotape from her recent birthday party. That detail places him among the last known people to see her, and in any investigation that matters. It doesn't make someone guilty, but it makes them relevant. Over the years, investigators have looked into Van Sisse extensively. His name has come up repeatedly, not just in media coverage, but in actual investigative efforts tied to the case. At one point, years after Jody's disappearance, law enforcement sought and obtained search warrants connected to him. Those warrants included efforts to gather additional information through tracking vehicles associated with him. And that's a detail that stands out because it shows that this wasn't something that was looked at once and then set aside. This was something that investigators continued to revisit, continued to examine, and continued to question. And yet despite the level of attention, Van Seiss has never been charged. He has never been officially named as a suspect by law enforcement, and that creates a space in the case that makes it very unsettling, because on one hand, there's proximity, there's timing, there's continued investigative interest, and on the other hand, there's no resolution, no charges, no definitive conclusion, and so his name remains in that space, one that people return to, one that continues to be discussed, but one that has never been fully answered. Another name that came up during the investigation is Tony Jackson. Jackson was a convicted sex offender who was living in Mason City at the time Jody disappeared. And in a case like this, where the scene suggests an abduction, where there is clear evidence of a struggle, individuals with that kind of background are going to be looked at closely. That's part of the investigative process, and Jackson was no exception. His name entered the case because of who he was and where he was. Investigators looked into him, examined whether there were any possible connections between him and Jody. They tried to determine whether his history could be tied to what happened that morning. But after that investigation, law enforcement has stated that they were not able to connect him to Jody's disappearance. And that's an important distinction to make because in cases like this, names can take on a life of their own. They become part of the narrative in a way that feels definitive. But from an investigative standpoint, being looked at is not the same as being linked, and in this case, Jackson's name represents one of those paths that was explored but ultimately didn't lead to an answer. In more recent years, one name has resurfaced in a way that shifted the direction of this case Brad millerburn and what makes his name stand out isn't just that it came up decades later. It's how closely connected he was to Jody's life. Miller Burned was the ex husband of Jody's childhood best friend, Patty. This wasn't a distant connection. This was someone inside her circle, someone who would have known who she was, where she worked, and how she lived. And over time, details about his behavior began a surface that made the connection harder to ignore. According to Patty, during their marriage, miller burn showed a noticeable fixation on Jody. He would bring her up in conversation, ask about her, focus on her in a way that didn't quite make sense at the time but later became difficult to dismiss. And then there's the timeline. Miller Burned and Patty finalized their divorce on June twenty third, nineteen ninety five, four days later Jody disappeared. That timing doesn't prove anything on its own, but it doesn't go unnoticed either. There were also direct points of contact. Miller Burned had taken Jody out to dinner in the fall of nineteen ninety four, and records show that he contacted her again in the weeks leading up to her disappearance, So now this isn't just proximity, this is interaction. And then there's the vehicle. Witnesses reported seeing a white fan near Jody's apartment in the early morning hours, a man standing nearby watching, acting in a way that didn't feel normal. Millerburn owned a white Ford van, and that detail alone doesn't confirm anything, but when placed alongside everything else, it becomes harder to ignore. Investigators eventually interviewed him, and what stood out wasn't just what he said, but how he behaved. He appeared nervous, quiet, reserved, and notably, he didn't ask a single question about Jody. He provided DNA, he took a polygraph, he cooperated, and still no charges were ever filed. At one point, investigators even searched a land connected to him in Minnesota, looking for something that might lead them to Jody, but nothing was found. And that's where this case becomes frustrating, because you can line up the details, the connection, the timing, the behavior, and still nothing definitively ties into what happened. Just like so many parts of this case, it feels like it should lead to somewhere, but it doesn't. As this case has continued to be revisited over the years, there's another detail that has come up in more recent coverage, and it's one that hasn't been confirmed by law enforcement, but it has raised questions. According to accounts shared in interviews, there were suggestions that Jody may have seen someone privately in the weeks leading up to her disappearance, a relationship that wasn't widely known, something that, if true, existed outside of what most people understood about her life at the time. And that's important because when investigators are looking at these cases, they start with what's known friends, co workers, family, people within that immediate circle. But if there was someone else, someone not publicly connected to her, that introduces a completely different possibility, a person who may not have been on anyone's radar, a connection that may not have been fully explored. Unfortunately, no name has been publicly identified, and there's no evidence that directly ties this possibility to what happened to Jane, So it remains exactly that a possibility, a detail that has surfaced over time, but again hasn't led to any answers. In more recent years, another name has entered the conversation surrounding Jody's disappearance, and that's Christopher Revak. Revac was previously identified as a person of interest in Jody's case. At the time, that designation didn't come with a clear explanation, and there wasn't a clear public connection that tied him directly to what happened in Mason City. But over time, more information began to surface, and with that information came names women whose cases had remained unsolved for years, women whose stories deserved to be told. In two thousand and seven, Rivac was charged in connection with the murder of a woman named Renee Williams, and just one day after being formally charged in two thousand and nine, he died by suicide inside his jail cell. At the time, that case alone raised serious concerns about who he was and what he may have been capable of, but it didn't stop there. Years later, investigators in Wisconsin revisited another case, the two thousand and six murder of Dedre Harm. For years, her case had gone unsolved until new evidence led investigators back to Revac. Authorities have since stated that if he were still alive, they are confident he would have been charged and convicted in Dedra's murder, and that's when the conversation shifted, because now investigators weren't just looking at a single case. They were looking at a pattern, looking at the possibility that Revac may have been responsible for multiple violent crimes, possibly even operating as a serial offender. And when you place that information alongside the fact that Rivac had been considered a person of interest in JODI's case, it raises difficult questions because there are elements of proximity connections through people in the area, enough to put his name into the conversation. But even with all of that, law enforcement has been clear there's no direct evidence linking Christopher Revack to what happened to Jody, and this is what continues to divine this case. There are names, there are theories, there are pieces that seem like they should fit together, but they never fully do. When you look at the scene, when you look at the timing, when you consider how quickly everything happened, it feels like someone had to know, someone had to be there, someone had to see something. And yet more than thirty years later, there's still no answer. Jody, who's in true has never been found. Her case remains open and for her family, this isn't something that belongs to the past. It's something they continue to live with every single day. A moment that never resolved, a morning that never made sense, and a question that has never been answered. What happened to Jody? If you have any information about the disappearance of Jody Who's in true please contact the Mason City Police Department at six four to one, four to two to one, three six three six. Thank you so much for joining me for today's episode of Case uncovereds Missing in the Midwest. Make sure to follow the show wherever you're listening to podcasts so you don't miss new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday. And the best way you can support the show so I can continue bringing you cases like Jody's every single week is by leaving a five star rating and review. It really does help push these episodes out into the algorithm so more people can listen and find them, and you never know, it could lead to somebody who knows something about the case. To learn more about my real life advocacy work through my nonprofit, the Reignited Project, you can visit the Reignited Project dot com and make sure to connect with me on social media at Genera Verir investigates on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. And until next time, stay curious, stay vigilant, and stay safe out there the BLA