Silly me.
Recent events have taken me back to a news event that occurred more than two decades ago and to a quirky situation I encountered in the midst of it.
On July 1, 1995, four days after the disappearance of KIMT-TV personality Jodi Huisentruit, I had a one-on-one interview with John Vansice, a friend of hers, who we learned this month is still a “person of interest” in the case.
Huisentruit, who was 27 at the time, was a morning anchor for KIMT. She did not show up for work on the morning of June 27 and has not been seen or heard from since. Her disappearance and apparent abduction from the parking lot of Key Apartments, where she lived, has drawn continual national attention and is still an open investigation with the Mason City Police Department. Huisentruit was declared legally dead several years ago.
Vansice, who was 49 at the time, is believed to be one of the last people to see her alive. The two were friends and were together the night before her disappearance.
The Huisentruit case drew intense media attention almost immediately. Jack Schlieper, who was police chief at the time, began holding daily press conferences in the lobby of the police station which became a crowded gallery of reporters and photographers from Iowa, Minnesota and other parts of the Midwest.
On Saturday, June 30, I was among the throng of news people waiting for Schlieper to come out of his office and give us the latest update. As I waited, I surveyed the crowd and noticed one person who seemed out of place. In this sea of humanity of newspeople who, for the most part, were dressed casually and toting cameras and tape recorders, there stood a neatly-groomed man in Polo shirt and shorts who looked like he had just gotten off the golf course.
He aroused my curiosity, so I approached him and introduced myself. He told me he was John Vansice, and I recognized the name from previous reporting on the case. Without me asking, he volunteered that he had taken a polygraph test in Cedar Falls that day and “passed it with flying colors.” He was obviously elated.
I asked Vansice about his relationship with Huisentruit who was 22 years younger than him. It had been reported that he had named his boat after her. He said they were friends in what he described as a “father-daughter relationship.”
When Schlieper, the police chief, learned that Vansice had talked with me, he was incensed.
“Anyone who truly cares about Jodi’s safety would not want to jeopardize that safety or our investigation by talking to the media about their involvement in our investigation,” he said.
Vansice is now reportedly living in Arizona. His name resurfaced this month as police continue to pursue any new leads in the case.
One other thing Vansice told me that day that I found odd. He said he and some friends were going to have a “kegger” that night in Clear Lake to celebrate his passing the polygraph test. To me it seemed like a strange reaction from someone who considered himself a father figure to a woman who disappeared four days earlier and was presumed to be a kidnap victim. He did not seem emotionally caught up in it.
That doesn’t prove anything one way or another, but it has been a lasting impression for me even after all of these years.
Funny, the things you remember over the years. I can’t recall what I had for lunch last Thursday, but I remember that chance encounter with John Vansice 23 years ago.
Silly me.
Photos: Jodi Huisentruit disappearance
Jodi Huisentruit

Huisentruit case

Jodi Huisentruit.
Huisentruit

Mason City Police Department Investigators seach a dumpster for any clues leading to the disappearance of KIMT anchor woman, Jodi Huisentruit. Huisentruit was reported missing in the early morning hours of June 27, 1995.
Huisentruit case

From the left, Mason City Police Department records manager Lowell Willock, officers Tiffany Creekmur and Craig Prahm, and investigator Susan Linkenmeyer at the scene of the Key Apartments parking lot on the day Jodi Huisentruit disappeared, June 27, 1995.
Huisentruit case

Jodi Huisentruit bumper sticker
Huisentruit case

Lowell Willock, right, of the Mason City Police Department, dusts a light post for fingerprints June 27, 1995 outside the apartment of Jodi Huisentruit. Huisentruit lived in the Key Apartments at 600 N. Kentucky Ave. At the time of her disappearance. Huisentruit's Mazda Miata is to the left of Willock. Next to the car were shoes, keys and other items scattered on the ground.
Huisentruit case

Globe-Gazette photo by JEFF HEINZ. Mason City firefighters, from the left, Steve Bull, Larry Meggers and Bruce Quam search in the Winnebago River behind Jodi Huisentruit's apartment for clues to her disappearance.
Huisentruit

Mason City Police Capt. Mike Halverson oversees the removal of Jodi Huisentruit's car from the Key Apartments. Huisentruit was reported missing on June 27, 1995. To Halverson's left is tow truck driver Terry Grell and officers Craig Prahm and Tiffany Creekmur.
Huisentruit

From the left, Mason City Police Records Manager Lowell Willock, officers Tiffany Creekmur and Craig Prahm, and investigator Susan Linkenmeyer at the scene of the Key Apartments parking lot on the day Jodi Huisentruit disappeared, June 27, 1995.
Huisentruit

Media from Minnesota and Iowa gather at the Mason City Police Department, on June 29, 1995 for a news conference on the disappearance of KIMT anchor woman Jodi Huisentruit. Huisentruit was reported missing, during the early morning hours of June 27, 1995.
Find Jodi

Beth Bednar, author of "Dead Air," a book about the disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit, speaks during a gathering of friends and the FindJodi.com group June 5, 2018, in Mason City on the news anchor's 50th birthday.
Jodi Billboard

One of four new billboards in Mason City featuring pictures of Jodi Huisentruit, urging citizens with information on her disappearance to come forward, is seen May 31, 2018, on North Federal Avenue in Mason City.
Jodi Walk

Rose Tobin of Mason City leads a group of approximately 35 people down North Kentucky Avenue on June 27, 2015, for the Walk for Jodi memorial walk in Mason City. The group began the walk at the Riverside Friends Church across from the Key Apartments and ended at the KIMT television station where Jodi Huisentruit worked when she was abducted in 1995. Tobin was the manager of the Key Apartments where Huisentruit lived at the time of her abduction.
Jodi Huisentruit memorial walk

People pray before a walk in memorial of missing KIMT news anchor Jodi Huisentruit on June 27, 2015, in Mason City. The walk went from Riverside Friends Church to KIMT studios. The church is across the street from the apartments where officials believe the anchor was abducted in 1995. She has never been found.
balloons

Students in the YMCA Teen Leadership program release balloons during the candlelight vigil in June 2000 at KIMT for Jodi Huisentruit.
Frank Stearns

Investigator Frank Stearns looks through the file of the Jodi Huisentruit case.
Kuns reaction

Amy Kuns of KXLT Fox 47 listens to the announcement by Sheriff Kevin Pals on July 15, 2004, that the remains found were not that of her former KIMT co-worker, Jodi Huisentruit.
John Vansice

John Vansice, an acquaintance of Jodi Huisentruit, is believed to be the one of the last people who saw the 27-year-old news anchor alive before her disappearance on June 27, 1995.
Huisentruit - five years

Regan Banks talks to students in the YMCA youth groups during a ceremony in June 2000 for missing anchorwoman Jodi Huisentruit, outside the KIMT studio. The event marked the five-year anniversary since her disappearance.
Huisentruit

Jodi Huisentruit's Sister
Huisentruit

Mason City Police officers check in front of Jodi Huisentruit's car for clues to her disappearance, June 27, 1995.
Huisentruit

Lowell Willock, right, of the Mason City Police Department, dusts a light post for fingerprints June 27, 1995 outside the apartment of Jodi Huisentruit. Huisentruit lived in the Key Apartments at 600 N. Kentucky Ave. at the time of her disappearance. Huisentruit's Mazda Miata is to the left of Willock. Next to the car was found shoes, keys and other items scattered on the ground.
Huisentruit

KIMT TV reporter Stephanie Angelson wipes a tear away during the candlelight vigil for Jodi Huisentruit, June 27, 2001, at the KIMT studio. The vigil marked the sixth anniversary of the disappearance of the TV anchor woman.
John Skipper retired from the Globe Gazette in February 2018 after 52 years in newspapers, most of that in Mason City covering North Iowa government and politics.
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(2) comments
John also told another friend the next day that he was the last person to see Jodi alive. The friend asked back if that meant he knew she was dead.
Thanks for stepping up with that article, John, and also the comment from griffon. I have also thought and read about the case since it happened and thought about it a lot. I had never met Jody or John but had seen them together several times like at "happy hour," etc. I could never understand why she was with him a lot, but I saw thru him right away as a slime ball that chased much younger women and their friends by becoming a part of their group with the ultimate goal of a sexual relationship. I don't think he ever achieved that with Jody and when that didn't happen and he decided it never was, I think he was furious. I also saw him as a fast-talking less than honest salesman. Perhaps if he couldn't make a sale, he would make sure no one else was going to either. I suspect he had been involved in illegal acts before and may have had contacts with those who had higher contacts that could make people disappear or could market beautiful young girls and women for big bucks. I hate to say it, but Vansice might have made a lot of money if he did have something to do with her disappearance. Of course I could be entirely wrong, but that has become my best guess after all these years. It could also be the reason why no trace of her has ever been found. Vansice said he passed a polygraph, but does anyone actually know? People that by nature are very deceptive and lie a lot can get very good at it.
y good if he actually did? People that are really deceptive by nature and lie a lot
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