PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Iowa news anchor Jodi Huisentruit vanished 29 years ago on Thursday, and answers about what may have happened could lie here in Arizona.

Police and family continue to try to solve her disappearance, and there are still plenty of questions about what, if any, involvement the person of interest now living in Phoenix had.

The challenge in this case is there’s little to no forensic evidence and no eyewitnesses.

The beloved 27-year-old Jodi Huisentruit was a staple on Iowa television. Huisentruit was well-known in the Mason City community and even more admired by her family, especially by her niece Kristen Nathe.

“I had a very special relationship with her. She was also my godmother. I spent a lot of time with her, and that loss was very significant to me and still to this day,” said Nathe.

Nathe was 11 years old on June 27, 1995, and remembers the day well.

Huisentruit never made it to work that day. First, she was believed to have overslept her alarm, but then her news team realized something was wrong.

Police believe she was abducted while getting to her car that morning.

Longtime investigative journalist Caroline Lowe said there were only 30 seconds between Huisentruit leaving her apartment and getting to her car, so they believe she was targeted.

“There’s no way somebody driving by would have had time to get in, it was so fast. Somebody, we believe, was waiting for her, whether it was a stalker or somebody she knew. We don’t know,” said Lowe.

A man named John Vansice showed up at the crime scene. The nearly 50-year-old was good friends with Huisentruit and often went boating with her and her friends.

He claimed he was the last to see Huisentruit when she came over to watch a birthday video at his house the night before.

“They’ve interviewed me twice, but they haven’t made any indication that I’m a suspect,” Vansice said to a reporter at the time.

He became a person of interest and has remained so, but Lowe said Huisentruit didn’t leave any warning signs about Vansice.

“From Jodi’s journal she did a number of social things with him. She had a great time at a birthday party he hosted. There’s no indication in the journal they’re anything but good friends,” said Lowe.

Lowe is part of the “Find Jodi” team and website committed to Huisentruit’s case.

Their team uncovered court documents showing that Mason City Police executed a search warrant for GPS data on two cars linked to Vansice in March 2017.

The information is sealed.

On this 29th anniversary, True Crime Arizona went to Vansice’s Phoenix home to try and talk to him, but despite a TV blaring the news inside, no one answered.

Huisentruit’s niece said at this point, she has a personal message for Vansice.

“What I personally would ask is that if he has more information regarding Jodi or the situation, that he comes forward and shares that information, especially if he considered himself to be such a close friend of Jodi. Um, help us. Help us to solve this case,” said Nathe.

Vansice has maintained his innocence and has never been charged in the case.

The “Find Jodi” team honored her life Thursday morning and has kept billboards up in Iowa.

If you have any information on Jodi’s disappearance, you can reach out to the Find Jodi web page.

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Copyright 2024 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Iowa City received $3,752,000 from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development as a part of the department’s pathways to removing obstacles housing program, or PRO Housing.

Iowa City is part of a small group of cities around the country to receive funding from the department of housing and urban development.

“Our housing supply has not kept up with the rising demand. As a result, we have a laser focus on this council to ensure that people can get the housing they need at the prices they can afford,” said Bruce Teague, Iowa City Mayor.

The HUD’s assistant secretary for administration presented the award. She said the grant’s money could have nationwide impact.

”We anticipate that this first round of pro funding will result in tens of thousands of new homes for the American people. Including right here in Iowa City,” said de León Bhargava.

More than 175 cities applied for the grant, and Iowa City is one of just 21 cities receiving it. According to Iowa City’s PRO Housing profile, the city is expected to grow by an additional 10-thousand residents and needs 46-hundred new housing units to meet demand. The profile also said 22% of homeowners and 61% of renters in Iowa city are housing cost burdened.

While Iowa City doesn’t expect the grant money to fully solve it’s housing problems, Mayor Bruce Teague said the funds will provide a new baseline to move forward.

”So we’re gonna be setting a template through this process for us to produce more affordable housing.”

Christine Hayes is the director of development at Shelter House in Iowa City. She says having the grant money will make the biggest impact for people who are right on the margin of affordable housing.

”Ultimately every time you bring a person out of homelessness or into stable housing, that is life changing,” Hayes said.

The Biden-Harris administration will also release a second round of 100 million dollars in PRO Housing funding later this summer. Iowa City is still eligible to apply for the second round of funding.

Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.

Mud and memories line the streets of a neighborhood in Rock Valley, a place that Cheri and Steve Gacke have called home for 30 years. They sit in chairs near the front door, exhausted and stunned.

“Yeah — so, it’s all gone — no insurance,” Steve said.

In their yard, and in their neighbor’s, are piles of debris: mattresses, soaked sofas, clothing, appliances, photos and more.

This is a rural area of the state, so farmers joined the clean-up with their tractors, payloaders and other equipment to help with the heavy lifting.

They were a welcome sight to Rob Jansen. His mother lives across the street.

“Getting rid of everything that came out of the main floor so far, then we got the whole basement,” Jansen said. “I don’t wish this on anyone, but it’s nice to see all the volunteers and all the hard work — lots is getting done.”

Escape from rising waters

Almost everything inside the Gacke home was destroyed after a surge from the Rock River shot over a protective berm and rushed through their lives in the middle of the night.

“I heard a beep — beep — beep — there was a big truck trying to back because he couldn’t get down the street because it was flooded, and that woke me up,” Cheri said.

“Within five minutes, it was coming in,” Steve said. “It was coming into the walls of the basement, and we decided we had better get out.”

“We looked out and knew we had to walk through the water,” Cheri added. “And, so we walked a good block-and-a-half, and then we could get up on the grass. And then we walked over to the swimming pool, and people picked us up and brought us to Faith Church.”

They escaped with just the clothes on their backs and another dry set in their hands. Others needed to be rescued by boat and National Guard helicopter.

As they discussed the aftermath of the flood, the sound of generators, pumps and heavy equipment sometimes overpowered their conversation. The Gackes talked about being married for almost 40 years and how, after another flood, they decided to stay.

“But they built these dikes and everything,” Steve said. “So, we felt that we were safe enough to redo our basement and added onto our garage — and it’s now worse than it was ten years ago.”

Steve’s voice broke, and he became emotional when he talked about what was in the garage.

“This is the first car I ever bought — a ‘74 Satellite,” he said.

He regretted leaving it behind when the water started to rise. They focused on moving a few items out of the basement instead. He looked at a photo of what the car used to be — white and pristine.

“Now, it’s just black,” he added.

Exploring the damage

Gov. Kim Reynolds privately toured the town of 4,000 by ATV and said 500 homes experienced some level of damage — from backed-up sewers to the unsalvageable.

“This is unprecedented, historic flooding. Where we’re breaking all records, sadly, with what we’ve experienced over the last couple of days,” Reynolds said.

She also visited Hawarden, Cherokee, Rock Rapids and Spencer — locations where rain-swollen rivers couldn’t handle 15 or more inches of water in just a few days.

The governor requested and received a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for some of the most impacted areas. This allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assess the damage and aid homeowners, renters and businesses.

The Gackes could use that assistance.

“We worked full-time for years and years, and saved our money,” Cheri said. “And when we have money, we would fix up the house. We thought we could finally retire.”

Flood forced a detour

Now the Gackes are talking about starting over, at almost the age of 70, far from here. Rock Valley experienced another flood four years ago, in addition to one a decade earlier. And now, this new crisis. Three episodes in a decade.

“We’re leaving, we’re leaving town,” Steve Gacke said. “We’re going to go to Oklahoma.”

They plan on staying with their daughter and her family there.

Another daughter, Jen Arendt, appreciated the volunteers as they packed up dishes, cups and platters inside cabinets in the kitchen. Because of closed roads, she had to wait two days to come help.

“I saw pictures online when I couldn’t get here, and it was devastating,” Arendt said. “But being here is heartbreaking. Everyone lost everything, everything they worked for is in a pile in the front yard, and it’s pretty hard.”

Jen also had a plan, and it involved her dad’s car. That car is the one he took her mom on dates in, and their honeymoon. It’s the one he drove Jen and her sister home from the hospital in after their births.

“Everyone’s rallying around, and we’re going to keep it for him,” she said. “We’re going to restore it.”