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Private investigator Steve Ridge examines Jodi Huisentruit case
Private investigator Steve Ridge discusses the latest updates in the case of missing Iowa news anchor Jodi Huisentruit.
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Jodi Huisentruit was on her way to work in the early-morning hours of June 27, 1995, when she vanished. Thirty years later, a sheriff has wondered whether a suspected serial killer could have been involved.
The case of the missing Iowa news anchor is being explored in a new ABC News Studios documentary, “Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit.” It features interviews with Huisentruit’s loved ones, investigators, and others closely connected to the case.
The film takes a deep dive into four persons of interest, including Wisconsin Rapids native Christopher Revak.
NEW PERSON OF INTEREST EMERGES IN DOCUMENTARY ON DECADES-OLD DISAPPEARANCE OF IOWA NEWS ANCHOR
In 1995, rising TV news anchor Jodi Huisentruit disappeared from her Iowa apartment just before dawn, leaving behind signs of a violent abduction. Her case quickly became one of the nation’s most haunting unsolved mysteries. Her case is being examined in the new true-crime documentary, “Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit.” (ABC News Studios)
“I think anytime you have a case that’s gone on for this long, certainly [the serial killer idea] is something that law enforcement thinks about or has maybe heard those theories before,” Maria Awes, executive producer of the documentary, told Fox News Digital.
“I think in Jodi’s case, there is an individual who is discussed in the program who is believed to be responsible for two murders – one in Missouri and one in Wisconsin. He has an extremely unique connection to Jodi’s case in terms of … his one-time girlfriend, with whom he was on the outs with … was living in the same duplex as John Vansice, [a friend] who has long been a person of interest in Jodi’s case.”
No one has been charged in Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance. (ABC News Studios)
“… Jodi was last seen, reportedly by John Vansice, at his duplex,” Awes shared. “Could somebody else have seen her there, followed her, or tracked her down? That’s one of the things we talked about in this film. I think there’s always this possibility. The police don’t know who did it. And I think there are some really interesting and compelling reasons to take a look at this new individual who is being mentioned here in this show.”
Mason City Police Investigator Terrance Prochaska spoke out in the series about the persons of interest. Fox News Digital reached out to Prochaska for comment. (ABC News Studio)
In 2024, KCCI Des Moines reported that Iowa and Wisconsin investigators were focusing on Revak, who killed himself in a jail cell in 2009 after he was charged with the 2007 death of Rene Williams, a bartender at the Eagles Lodge in Ava, Missouri.
According to the documentary, police wondered whether Revak may have been connected to five different homicides within 14 years. Huistentruit’s disappearance made their list of suspected cases that Revak may have been involved in.
Iowa news anchor Jodi Huisentruit was 27 when she went missing. (ABC News Studios)
“When I started working on the Christopher Revak case, he was my suspect in the murder of Rene Williams,” Douglas County Sheriff Chris Degase told Fox News Digital. “I didn’t think it was his first go around at it.”
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Douglas County Sheriff Chris Degase spoke to Fox News Digital about his experience investigating the case of Christopher Revak (pictured here). (Wood County Sheriff’s Department)
“I did a search [for] women abducted in bars,” he shared. “It popped up that Deidre Harm was abducted in Wisconsin Rapids. I saw a composite drawing of the suspect, who was, no doubt, Christopher Revak.”
Degase didn’t rule out the possibility that Revak could have traveled to Iowa at one point.
Flyers publicizing Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance are seen outside of her place of work, KIMT-TV, on July 3, 1995. (Steve Kagan/Getty Images)
“Obviously, [Jodi] wasn’t abducted from a bar, but I just thought it was odd,” Degase told Fox News Digital, who is also heard in the documentary discussing the Revak case.
Degase noted that, like Huisentruit, Williams has never been found.
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” said Degase. “I called the authorities out there and gave them the information I had.”
For the documentary, director and executive producer Maria Awes examined four persons of interest related to the case of Jodi Huisentruit. (ABC News Studios)
When asked whether “suspected serial killer” was an accurate description for Revak, Degase replied, “Absolutely – I gave him that.”
Degase stressed that he personally felt that Revak was a suspect worth looking into.
“Christopher Revak is deceased,” said Degase. “He died in my jail. He hanged himself in my jail shortly after I arrested him. So, I don’t know if they’ve completely dismissed him as a person of interest in the [Huisentruit] case. [But] I’m sure they’ve checked into it.”
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JoAnn Nathe, Jodi Huisentruit’s sister, was featured in the documentary. The family is hopeful that the documentary will encourage fresh leads, resulting in answers. (ABC News Studios)
In response to the persons of interest listed in the documentary, the Mason City Police Department told Fox News Digital in a statement: “MCPD continues to investigate Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance and hopes that the current information is able to produce useful leads that help bring some closure to the case for the family and our community. We have not discussed suspects or persons of interest with the media in the past and do not intend to start doing so now.”
KIMT-TV general manager John Shine is seen here sporting a ribbon on his lapel in memory of mysteriously disappeared co-worker Jodi Huisentruit. (Steve Kagan/Getty Images)
In the documentary, Mason City Police Investigator Terrance Prochaska pointed out that Revak’s ex-girlfriend was not living at the duplex in question at the time of Huisentruit’s abduction. She had moved out three months before Huisentruit went missing. However, a theory was proposed that Revak could have possibly tracked down his ex’s former address and went looking for her in the area.
WATCH: PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR STEVE RIDGE EXAMINES JODI HUISENTRUIT CASE
“Until there’s documentation to prove that Revak wasn’t in Mason City when Jodi vanished, he remains a person of interest for police,” said Awes in the documentary.
Awes told Fox News Digital that she doesn’t lean on any specific person of interest. Her goal with the film, she said, was to help raise awareness of Huisentruit’s disappearance in hopes it would spark fresh leads for investigators.
A flyer publicizing Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance was seen throughout Mason City, Iowa on July 3, 1995. (Steve Kagan/Getty Images)
“… Certainly, people may form their own opinions,” said Awes. “But what I do think is that all the persons of interest that are featured here, I think there are a lot of really strong, compelling bits of information that viewers will gravitate towards in terms of forming their own theories about what might have happened.”
Jodi Huisentruit went missing on her way to work on June 27, 1995, at Mason City, Iowa. (ABC News Studios)
Huisentruit, a native of Long Prairie, Minnesota, was on her way to work as a morning anchor at KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa, when she vanished.
After the 27-year-old didn’t make it to work by 7 a.m., Mason City Police were notified. Her vehicle was found at her apartment, along with a bent car key, her high heels and signs of a struggle.
Merchants in Long Prairie decorated their store windows during Christmas 1996 with blonde angels dressed in pink. The message of the season was hope, which many thought of as hope for Jodi Huisentruit, the hometown girl who is still missing. (Rita Reed/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
To date, she is believed to have been abducted, but extensive investigations have failed to uncover any concrete evidence as to what happened or where her remains could be.
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Mason City Police Department Lt. Frank Stearns previously said there was no evidence that connected Christopher Revak to Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance. However, it was important to explore all possibilities in hopes of getting answers. In the documentary, Mason City Police Investigator Terrance Prochaska (pictured here) spoke about the connection between the cases. (ABC News Studios)
“One of the things that always … resonated with me is that there are a lot of persons of interest related to this case that have been looked at over the years,” Awes explained.
“I think it’s easy to take a look at each individual and think, ‘Of course, it must be this person. Look at all the different pieces of circumstantial evidence.’ But then you also think, ‘But what about this other person?’ There are just a lot of people who, I think, warrant an investigation related to whether or not they could have been involved.”
The exterior of the apartment complex where TV anchor Jodi Huisentruit resided and mysteriously disappeared from. (Steve Kagan/The Life Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“I think what surprises me is just that there are a lot of folks who’ve been mentioned as a potential person who may be responsible, someone who has a missing link, a piece of information. . . . Somebody has to come forward with answers.”
Investigators have never found Jodi Huisentruit, who was declared legally dead in 2001, The Associated Press reported. (ABC News Studios)
Awes noted that at the time, Huisentruit’s apartment was dusted for fingerprints.
“Fingerprints were the thing back then,” she said. “Sometimes that fingerprint dust can erode the ability to get DNA from things. But I think that what you have here is an opportunity to take advantage of … new testing techniques and new ways to potentially look at this evidence again.”
And investigators are “extremely hopeful” to find out what happened to Huisentruit, she said.
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Pink ribbons tied on trees after Jodi Huisentruit disappeared. (Rita Reed/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
“They have never lost hope,” said Awes. “I think everyone feels like it is solvable. They just need that one missing piece. And I hope that someone watching this will have that piece of information they need to solve this case.”
Awes also hopes the documentary will shed light on Huisentruit before she made headlines.
Ani Kruse, a friend of Jodi Huisentruit’s, is seen sporting a ribbon in honor of the news anchor. (Steve Kagan/Getty Images)
“She was a daughter, sister, colleague, friend – all these wonderful things,” Awes said. “I think it’s important to keep the memory of who she was alive. . . . If anyone out there knows anything, it’s been 30 years. Please come forward with information to law enforcement. Let’s get that information to the police so that we can hopefully solve this case once and for all.”
"Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit" is available for streaming on HULU. Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Julia Bonavita and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Stephanie Nolasco covers entertainment at Foxnews.com.