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get your podcasts. Hello

1:27

everyone and welcome to episode 405

1:29

of the true crime all the

1:31

time unsolved podcast I'm Mike Ferguson

1:34

and with me as always is

1:36

my partner in true crime Mike

1:38

Gibson give me how are you?

1:40

Hey I'm doing pretty good how

1:42

about you? I am hanging in there.

1:44

Yeah just hanging just hanging yeah

1:47

we are having some serious wind

1:49

tonight I hear it so if you hear

1:51

some banging type noises that in the

1:53

background that's what it is yeah it's

1:56

not actually someone trying to get out

1:58

of a locked room no no could be

2:00

later, but it depends on how

2:02

gibby acts during the recording. Let's

2:05

go ahead and give our Patreon

2:07

shout-outs. We had Lynn Brown. Hey,

2:10

Lynn. Fay night. On night like,

2:12

uh... Royalty. Yeah, yeah. Brie Smith.

2:14

Hey, Brie. Vernon Ford jumped out

2:17

to our highest level. I'm glad

2:19

you're not going backward forward. Caleb

2:21

Hockenberry. Hockenberry is a famous Hockenberry's.

2:24

Gary. Hey Gary. Annie Garcia. What's

2:26

up, Garcia? It's just Maddie. All

2:28

Maddie. You can't fool us. Arlene

2:31

McDonald. Hey, McDonald. CC Lemon. I

2:33

love some lemon. Tim Cosgrove. Hey,

2:36

Cosgrove. And last but not least,

2:38

Michael Kelly. Hey, thanks, Michael. Yeah,

2:40

appreciate the new support. And then

2:43

if we go back into the

2:45

vault. This week, we selected Debbie

2:47

Duffy. Hey, Duffy. So appreciate the

2:50

long-term support as well. We also

2:52

had a couple of great PayPal

2:55

donations from Amanda Stewart. Thanks, Amanda.

2:57

And Jennifer Brunswick. You're awesome, Jennifer.

2:59

So Gibbs right now on True

3:02

Crime all the time. We have

3:04

an episode out on Mark Latonski.

3:06

And there is a lot wrapped

3:09

up in this episode. We're talking

3:11

about a man who kind of

3:14

lured, if you want to use

3:16

that word, other gay men over

3:18

to his home, where he kind

3:21

of had a dungeon slash kill

3:23

room. He did set up. And

3:25

there's cannibalism and some other, you

3:28

know, really horrible things involved. And

3:30

Kevin Bacon. All right, buddy, are

3:32

you ready to get into this

3:35

episode of true crime all the

3:37

time on Saul? I am ready.

3:39

We're talking about the disappearance of

3:42

Jody Housentrude. Jody Housentrude was a

3:44

popular anchor at a local news

3:46

station in Mason City, Iowa. She

3:48

went missing early one morning while

3:51

rushing out the door for work

3:53

and has never been found. Jody

3:55

Sue Housentrude was born on June

3:57

5th, 1968. She was just 27

4:00

years old when she went... missing.

4:02

Jody grew up in Long Prairie,

4:04

Minnesota. Her friends told four to

4:07

eight hours that she always wanted

4:09

to be famous and knew by

4:11

high school that she wanted to

4:13

be a news anchor. You think

4:16

you make a good news anchor?

4:18

Well, if Ron Burgundy can do

4:20

it, I think I can do

4:22

it. Well, that's something I would

4:25

say. But I will read anything

4:27

that is put on the prompter.

4:29

And by anything, I do mean

4:32

eh, eh, eh, eh, eh? Yes,

4:34

you would be, you would be,

4:36

you would be good. Jody attended

4:38

St. Cloud State University where she

4:41

anchored for the school's TV station.

4:43

I think it's not uncommon for

4:45

people growing up to say, you

4:47

know what, I want to be

4:50

famous. Sure. Whether it's a baseball

4:52

player, an actor, an actress, whatever

4:54

it may be, an astronaut. I

4:57

don't know how many kids say,

4:59

you know what, I want to

5:01

be. Dan Rather, I want to

5:03

be Walter Cronkite, I want to

5:06

be Jane Polly, or you know,

5:08

whoever it is. Yeah. I don't

5:10

know how many kids think that

5:12

way. I don't either. I think

5:15

maybe if they want to be

5:17

famous, they want to be Instagram

5:19

famous today. Well, today. Yes. Absolutely.

5:22

There was no Instagram in the

5:24

early 90s. If there was, it

5:26

meant something differently. But she not

5:28

only... wished it, she made it

5:31

happen. She sure did. Which is

5:33

kind of amazing. She worked at

5:35

KGAN, a station based in Cedar

5:37

Rapids, Iowa, from February 1991 to

5:40

April 1992. The Des Moines Register

5:42

reported that she started off as

5:44

an intern and was promoted to

5:47

its Iowa City News Bureau. Jody

5:49

worked at a new station in

5:51

her hometown before she moved to

5:53

Mason City Iowa. In October 1993,

5:56

She was hired by local CBS

5:58

affiliate KIMT. TV. She anchored the

6:00

6 a.m. daybreak show and the

6:02

noon slot. You can never do

6:05

a daybreak show? No. No. I

6:07

remember when my wife and I

6:09

were watching the morning show on

6:12

Apple and they had to get

6:14

up at like 3 o'clock in

6:16

the morning or something to to

6:18

get in to start the early

6:21

morning show. No, that is not

6:23

me. That's about the time I'm

6:25

rolling into bed. I'm going to

6:27

say that's about your wine down

6:30

time. Exactly. But Jody soon became

6:32

a public figure in Mason City.

6:34

Mason City Mayor Carl Miller said

6:37

about Jody, per the Des Moines

6:39

Register, this young lady is a

6:41

true celebrity in this city. She's

6:43

athletic, water skiing, and golfing. She

6:46

really has gotten involved in the

6:48

community. And I watched a couple

6:50

of things about Jody, who's in

6:52

truth. One of the things that

6:55

did come out was that she

6:57

was an amazing golfer. Yeah. One

6:59

of the guys said anytime like

7:02

the they went to some celebrity

7:04

golf outing, she was like their

7:06

anchor, their star. Oh really? That's

7:08

how good she was. You wanted

7:11

her on your team. Your four-person.

7:13

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Director Doug Murbach

7:15

recalled that it took Jody two

7:17

hours to shop for groceries because

7:20

she stopped to talk to so

7:22

many people. Oh, that is definitely

7:24

not you. You do not like

7:27

to have conversations with people while

7:29

you're out. No, but I'm also

7:31

not a celebrity. You think about

7:33

a news anchor in a smaller

7:36

city. They are true celebrities, especially,

7:38

you know, in years past, where

7:40

a lot more people watched the

7:42

local news. Yeah. Now there's a

7:45

lot of options for news. Sure

7:47

there is. But back in the

7:49

day, you had about three. Yeah.

7:52

You know, and those people were

7:54

celebrities. Then when you looked at

7:56

the national. news, those

7:58

people were national

8:01

celebrities. Right. I

8:03

remember seeing some of the local news celebrities

8:05

around town here when I was younger.

8:07

Sure. You know, and you're

8:09

like, oh, that's, uh, what's his name

8:11

or that's what's her name? And

8:13

of course - Because you could never remember

8:15

their name? Yeah, that was always been a

8:17

thing with me, right? Um, or you

8:19

see the weatherman, you know, because around here

8:22

the weathermen were always pretty popular back

8:24

in the day. Mm -hmm. Um,

8:26

and some of them seemed friendly. There was a few

8:28

that I remember thinking, well, that's not

8:30

very nice and I'm not wanting to stop and talk.

8:33

Not so friendly. Robin

8:35

Wolfram, the evening news anchor, told

8:37

48 Hours that Jody dreamed

8:39

of being on national television one

8:41

day. However, Jody seemed

8:43

content to stay in Mason City

8:45

and was eager to renew

8:47

her contract, which expired in October

8:49

1995. Director Doug Murbach

8:51

told the Des Moines Register,

8:53

she's very popular with our viewers.

8:55

She's effervescent and lively. She

8:57

wakes you up in the morning.

8:59

I'm not saying she was

9:01

perfect. There were times that she's

9:03

been in my office. Uh -oh.

9:06

I've had times like that. There were times

9:08

where you were in my office. Yes, there was.

9:11

And maybe some tough conversations were

9:13

had. Maybe so. But

9:16

what he is saying, and nobody's

9:18

perfect, right? But what he

9:20

is saying is that she was

9:22

very popular. People adored

9:24

her. Now, I

9:27

mentioned Anchorman jokingly,

9:29

but you do kind of

9:31

get the sense of the

9:33

character that Christina Applegate plays.

9:36

There's some parallels here. Sure. You

9:38

know, local news, she's

9:40

striving to one day

9:42

be a national anchor.

9:44

But first, she's got to be a

9:46

local anchor, but her ultimate goal is

9:48

to go national. Jody's

9:50

assistant was a woman named Amy

9:52

Coons, who did an interview with

9:54

the group Find Jody years after

9:56

she went missing. Amy said in

9:58

this interview, Jody had been

10:01

really up and down before her

10:03

disappearance. She would fall to sleep

10:05

and etiquette and later in the

10:07

day be really perky. I wondered

10:09

what was going on with her. I would

10:11

not be surprised if drugs were

10:13

involved. You know, when you're getting

10:15

up at 3 o'clock in the morning

10:17

or 4 o'clock to be at work

10:19

and on air by 6, that could be

10:21

tough, I would think. Yeah, and when she

10:23

says drugs, no idea what type of

10:26

drugs she's talking about, it could

10:28

be... Like uppers or something that would

10:30

keep you awake. I remember when

10:32

I was younger and and maybe they

10:34

still do because I don't go inside

10:36

the gas stations very often anymore. But

10:39

when I was younger, they used to

10:41

sell a menagerie of different pills at

10:43

the counter. No does. No does. But

10:45

not even that like these. What were

10:47

they called? Like white crosses? They came

10:50

to this little pack. Yeah. And they

10:52

were supposed to like energize you. There

10:54

was just all kinds of, I'm sure

10:57

none of this was FDA cleared or

10:59

it was made in somebody's basement and

11:01

then packaged up. Amy was also asked

11:04

about Jody's working demeanor. She said,

11:06

I was Jody's assistant. She was

11:08

very demanding. She would often snap

11:10

at me. Then she would turn

11:12

around and clap, stand up at

11:14

her desk and proclaim. I loved

11:16

life. I could never figure her

11:18

out. And I'm sure everybody

11:20

listening has worked for someone

11:23

who's been extremely demanding.

11:25

Yes. A lot of times those people

11:27

are very successful. It's true.

11:29

Because they are so demanding,

11:31

but they can be tough to work

11:34

with. I mean, they're not only the

11:36

demanding of you, but you learn that

11:38

they're demanding of themselves. And

11:41

probably why they're successful.

11:43

Yeah. But they can be real a

11:45

holes. Some people can. I worked with

11:48

one of those people before. Yeah, let's

11:50

not name any names. In October

11:52

1994, Jody was jogging on a

11:54

trail when a man in a white

11:57

truck followed her. Jody filed a

11:59

police report. But the man was

12:01

never found she discussed this

12:03

incident with several people, but

12:06

she didn't seem overly worried

12:08

about it and I can

12:10

understand that right? You know things

12:12

happen to us on a daily basis

12:15

Some things we might find

12:17

a little bit suspicious or

12:19

we think that doesn't seem

12:21

quite right, but are you

12:23

sitting around worrying about it? You

12:25

know that you saw what you thought

12:27

was a truck following you? You know, do

12:29

you really think someone's out to get

12:32

you? And I would say for the

12:34

most part, no. People aren't thinking

12:36

that. On June 25th, 1995, Jody

12:39

returned from a water skiing

12:41

trip to Iowa City with

12:43

several friends, including a man

12:45

named John Van Nuys, who was in

12:47

his late 40s. John was a

12:50

recently divorced seed salesman.

12:52

He once lived in Jody's apartment

12:54

complex in Mason City, but she

12:56

and her friend Annie Cruz met

12:59

him in a bar. Annie told 48 hours

13:01

that he offered to buy them a drink.

13:03

She and Jody spoke to him throughout

13:05

the evening and weren't sure how

13:07

to feel about him, but they

13:10

continued meeting him and they developed

13:12

a friendship. The two young women

13:14

often water skied off John's boat. You

13:16

know, what's a great way to get some

13:19

women to go out to the lake with

13:21

you? Have a boat? Have a nice boat.

13:23

I know that's why you bought one.

13:25

I've yet to hear about any adventures

13:27

you've taken on it, but.

13:29

It's a fishing boat, not a ski

13:32

boat. Why are you doing air quotes

13:34

with your fingers? I don't know.

13:36

According to 48 hours, Jody befriended

13:39

John at a difficult point in

13:41

his life. On top of the

13:43

divorce, he had been arrested for

13:46

drunk driving and was ordered

13:48

to install a breathalyzer in

13:50

his van. Ain't nothing, nothing

13:53

says. Hey you want, you need

13:55

a ride? Come on, get in

13:57

with me. Let me blow this

13:59

first. You mean the breathalyzer? As soon

14:02

as you said it, you started

14:04

laughing. I can't stop. No, but

14:06

I understand what you're saying. I

14:08

mean, you know, especially if you're

14:11

meeting somebody for the first

14:13

time and they get into your

14:15

vehicle and you've got one of

14:17

these machines in your car, it's

14:19

not going to look great. We're

14:21

probably not going to feel too comfortable.

14:24

No. Yeah. No. Annie Cruz told the

14:26

show. She brought so much joy into

14:28

his life. and he didn't have

14:30

a lot of friends. And you

14:32

know, all of a sudden, now

14:34

he's kind of accepted. You know,

14:36

he's hanging out with us, we're having

14:39

fun. She did say she knew. She

14:41

knew he had an interest, but just

14:43

blew it off. You know, he's like

14:45

a father to me. She made that

14:48

mention quite a few times. So,

14:50

you know, I'm getting the sense here,

14:52

Gibbs, that he's older than

14:54

Jody, but he is interested

14:56

in her. He finds her attractive.

14:59

She's interested in being

15:01

friends with him, but

15:03

nothing more. Jody's friends cautioned

15:05

her about her friendship with

15:07

John. They thought it was

15:09

strange that he named his

15:11

boat after her, but she laughed

15:14

at all. Okay. If a guy names

15:16

his boat after you. I think he

15:18

had to have some concern. Yeah,

15:20

he wants more than tea and

15:22

crumpus. Yeah. He has designed.

15:25

or interests that go beyond

15:27

the friendship that you

15:29

think you have. John later told

15:31

K-I-M-T, I have named my

15:33

boat after her just because

15:36

she's Jody. You can't help

15:38

but love that woman.

15:40

Yeah, but somewhat of an

15:42

obsession, don't you think? Maybe,

15:44

but you know the word love

15:47

can be used in a lot

15:49

of different scenario. It can

15:51

be. You know, there's romantic

15:54

love, there's friendship

15:56

type love, there's brother-sister.

16:00

type an

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20:33

Jody disappeared in the early morning hours

20:35

of June 27th, 1995, while on her

20:37

way to work, Jody lived at

20:39

the key apartment. About a mile

20:42

from the KIMT studio in downtown

20:44

Mason City. She was supposed

20:46

to be at work by 3 a.m. But she

20:49

didn't come in at her usual

20:51

time. Jody's producer, Amy, called

20:53

her at 4.10 a.m. Jody answered

20:55

the phone. It sounded like she

20:58

had just woken up, but nothing

21:00

else seemed wrong. Amy asked

21:02

Jody if she was coming in and

21:04

Jody said she would be there in

21:06

a few minutes. So no. concern

21:09

really right I mean no a little

21:11

bit but she said she's gonna

21:13

be here and I think the other

21:15

thing is you know it's

21:17

establishing for sure that Jody was

21:19

alive and at her apartment

21:22

at for 10 a.m and that's valuable

21:25

information for the police

21:27

later on once they find out

21:29

that she's missing Amy said in

21:31

her interview with the fine Jody

21:34

group that Jody was laid about

21:36

once a week Amy would call her

21:38

to wake her up and Jody would

21:40

be at work within 20 minutes. And

21:42

it sounds like maybe Jody didn't get

21:44

enough sleep. Right. You know, Amy said

21:47

she often seemed like she was sleepy

21:49

at work and she had a hard

21:51

time getting up. Well, first of all,

21:53

it's because you got to get up at

21:56

3 a.m. And you're staying out a little

21:58

bit later than you should. Right.

22:00

theoretically to get a good night's

22:02

sleep you'd have to go to bed

22:04

at what eight o'clock and that

22:06

would still only be seven hours

22:09

yeah not enough seven o'clock who

22:11

goes to bed at seven o'clock

22:14

besides my wife Mark Wahlberg Jody

22:16

still had not arrived by 5

22:18

a.m. So Amy called again thinking

22:20

she might have fallen back

22:22

asleep but Jody didn't answer

22:25

and to be honest with you Gibbs

22:27

this happens to me a lot You

22:29

know, I set an alarm. I

22:32

don't really have to be anywhere

22:34

because I work in my

22:36

basement. But I do set

22:38

an alarm because I don't

22:41

want to sleep too late. But

22:43

a couple of times a week,

22:45

I will turn that alarm off

22:48

and just let it go. Just

22:50

go right back to sleep.

22:52

Yeah. And the next thing I

22:55

know, it's like an hour later. Or

22:57

two. Or two. Oh, she knows. Yeah.

22:59

She knows when I get up.

23:01

Even though she's not home, she's

23:04

teaching. So Jody doesn't

23:06

show up. Amy anchored the show

23:08

at 6 a.m. The newscast ended

23:11

at 7. Still no word from

23:13

Jody. Amy asked a co-worker

23:15

to call the police to

23:17

conduct a welfare check. And

23:20

you can kind of see it,

23:22

right? The worry is not there

23:24

in the beginning because... First

23:26

of all, this is kind of normal

23:29

for Jody. As Amy put it,

23:31

this happened a couple of times a

23:33

week on average. And she did

23:35

talk to her on the phone. Yeah. So

23:37

what is there to worry about?

23:39

That's true, right? I just talked to

23:42

her, I mean, she was sounded

23:44

half asleep, but I feel like

23:46

she'll be here soon. But by seven

23:48

o'clock, when you talked to her

23:50

three hours ago and she's still

23:52

not there, okay, then the worry

23:55

becomes... Much greater an officer

23:57

arrived at the key apartments

23:59

around seven 2015 a.m. Jody's

24:01

vehicle was still in the

24:03

parking lot. Her heels, blow dryer,

24:05

earrings, and hair spray were

24:07

scattered on the ground nearby. Her

24:10

bent car key was also found

24:12

at the scene suggesting a

24:14

struggle. CBS reported there

24:16

were drag marks near the car.

24:18

Okay, so it looks like maybe

24:20

somebody abducted her right by

24:23

the car as she was trying to

24:25

get in it. Yeah, I would agree with

24:27

that. Now she carrying, you know, her

24:29

blow dry or hair spray, maybe

24:32

she's gonna do some of that

24:34

in the car, or maybe she's

24:36

gonna use it once she gets

24:38

to the station, and that kind

24:41

of tells you, she never even

24:43

got the door open to put

24:45

that stuff inside when she

24:47

was attacked, and maybe she was

24:49

wearing her heels, or maybe

24:51

she was carrying those two, but

24:54

heels and earrings could have come

24:56

off. in the struggle. I think

24:58

the bent car key is

25:01

interesting. Could it have been that

25:03

she had gotten the key in

25:05

the lock and then was grabbed,

25:07

still had it in her hand,

25:09

and it kind of bent

25:12

and eventually came out? Could

25:14

have. Or something along those lines?

25:16

Or if she fell to the

25:18

ground and the way the key. And

25:21

it bent that way? It looked

25:23

like... Jody rushed out of her

25:25

apartment with her makeup kit and

25:27

was abducted by someone lying in

25:29

wait. The police searched a half

25:31

mile area around the complex, which

25:34

included part of the Winnebago River.

25:36

Mason City Police Chief Jack

25:38

Schleiper said about the search per

25:40

the Des Moines Register. There were no

25:42

traces of her. Other items linked

25:44

to her have not been found

25:47

in any place other than the

25:49

parking lot. Information that we have

25:51

acquired today. and over the investigation

25:53

would lead us to believe it

25:55

is possibly a foul play disappearance.

25:57

I don't think that's any stretch.

26:00

Now, if you don't find all that stuff

26:02

by the car, it would be maybe

26:04

a little harder to jump

26:06

to that conclusion, but finding

26:08

what they did kind of screams out

26:11

that something bad happened. Yeah.

26:13

Either something like that happened

26:15

or someone's trying to set

26:17

the scene up like something

26:19

like that happened, but why go

26:21

through all that work? Yeah, because I don't

26:23

know what you'd be gaining by

26:25

setting up that scene, you're basically

26:28

saying, hey. Something bad happened

26:30

to her. Yeah. Now there wasn't much

26:32

forensic evidence, but the police

26:34

did find a hair and a partial

26:37

palm print on Jody's car. A

26:39

police lieutenant said investigators found

26:41

the toilet seat up in

26:43

Jody's apartment, suggesting

26:45

the possibility of a male

26:47

visitor. The following day, however,

26:49

the police chief told the press

26:52

there was no evidence. Anyone was

26:54

with Jody before she disappeared. But

26:56

I would say, right? The toilet seat

26:59

up does suggest that there

27:01

was a mail in the house,

27:03

and probably very recently,

27:05

because I'm sure at some point,

27:07

Jody had to use the restroom.

27:09

She would have put the toilet

27:12

seat down. Jody's friend, John

27:14

Van Sykes, was identified as

27:16

a person of interest early

27:18

in the investigation. According to

27:20

News Nation, John called Jody's

27:23

producer Amy Coone. 720 a.m.

27:25

to ask if she was

27:27

at work. This was considered

27:30

suspicious behavior. At this

27:32

time, it wasn't public knowledge

27:34

that Jody was missing. So

27:36

that would be strange for someone to

27:39

do then to call kind of out

27:41

of the blue and say, hey, is

27:43

Jody at work? Now, could it be

27:45

that he watched the the morning

27:48

news and noticed Jody wasn't

27:50

on it? True. And was calling

27:52

in to find out why, but that's

27:54

not the way it was framed. It

27:57

was framed as if he was just

27:59

calling. to see if Jody was

28:01

at work. John and several other

28:04

friends came to the apartment complex

28:06

later that evening. The police told

28:08

him he was the last one

28:11

to see Jody alive after he

28:13

said she came to his apartment

28:15

the night before. And that's a

28:18

tough position to be in, to

28:20

be the last person to see

28:22

someone a lot who has gone

28:25

missing. But if you are, then

28:27

you are. I'm right. I mean

28:29

if you... Met was someone the

28:32

night before, then you would be

28:34

the last person or the last

28:36

known person. The last known person.

28:39

I think what's a little different

28:41

here, you know, in a lot

28:43

of cases, someone finds out that,

28:46

okay, the person doesn't show up

28:48

to work, but they never hear

28:50

from this case is a little

28:53

different because Amy called Jody's apartment

28:55

actually spoke to her, which means...

28:57

She was alive and well inside

29:00

her apartment at 4.10 a.m. Yeah.

29:02

So what happens after that is

29:04

the mystery. K-I-M-T reporters were at

29:07

the scene that day, including Jody's

29:09

friend and fellow reporter Robin Wolfram.

29:11

K-I-M-T recorded John saying she was

29:14

like a daughter to me. She

29:16

was just like my own child.

29:18

I treated her like my own

29:21

child. Okay. Yeah, I don't know

29:23

what you make of that. you

29:25

know, did they have a father-daughter

29:28

type relationship? Obviously they weren't related,

29:30

but did he think of her

29:32

as a daughter? I didn't get

29:35

that sense. I got the sense

29:37

that he was romantically interested in

29:39

her. Now she might have seen

29:42

him as some sort of friend

29:44

slash father figure because of the

29:46

age difference. I don't think he

29:49

saw it that way. He said

29:51

about Jody's visit. to his home

29:53

and we watched the tape and

29:56

we chuckled. We laughed, we giggled,

29:58

we he hauled. We did everything.

30:00

We said we're going to cut

30:03

this portion out of the tape

30:05

and then we'd laugh about it.

30:07

We he hauled. What's the last

30:10

time you he hauled? Probably the

30:12

last time I watched he hauled.

30:14

Well that would make sense then.

30:17

He hauled why he hauled. There

30:19

were no eyewitnesses to the abduction.

30:21

Police looked at two sex offenders

30:24

who lived nearby but they were

30:26

ruled out as suspects. The police

30:28

also analyzed Jody's 1994 police reports,

30:31

but the suspect in that case

30:33

remained unidentified. John Van Sykes remained

30:35

a person of interest. At first,

30:38

Jody's friend Annie Cruz insisted John

30:40

would have no reason to harm

30:42

her. Twenty-five years later, she would

30:45

tell 48 hours. She believed John

30:47

could have been involved. She thought

30:49

the potential motive was rejection. However,

30:52

she questioned why John would make

30:54

a romantic advance towards Jody and

30:56

her apartment parking lot in the

30:59

early morning hours. And that does

31:01

seem strange, right? If you know

31:03

that this woman has to get

31:06

up and go to work. Well,

31:08

first of all, she's like an

31:10

hour late. So the timing of

31:13

that seems strange. Now maybe he

31:15

was waiting out there the whole

31:17

time, which is possible, but I'm

31:20

going to... just run a scenario

31:22

by let's say the night before

31:24

when she was apparently over at

31:27

his apartment he made a romantic

31:29

advance that was rebuffed now he

31:31

could have done something right then

31:34

and there but let's say no

31:36

he didn't jody went home she

31:38

went to bed and he stood

31:41

about it all night maybe sure

31:43

and he made a plan he

31:45

got mad and he said you

31:48

know I'm gonna get her right

31:50

I guess you know you could

31:52

put that forth as a motive.

31:55

Yeah, or maybe something happened that

31:57

night at his apartment that he

31:59

didn't want to come out later.

32:01

Yeah, didn't want to give her

32:04

a chance. But then again, why

32:06

not do it at his apartment

32:08

or do it as she's leaving?

32:11

Maybe she made him feel like,

32:13

you know, we're talking about tomorrow.

32:15

Yeah, I just got to get

32:18

out of here. Robin Wolfram suspected

32:20

John had feelings for Jody that

32:22

she didn't return. Robin also thought

32:25

John seemed John seemed far too

32:27

happy. during his news interview, considering

32:29

the tragic circumstances. And we get

32:32

into this all the time, right?

32:34

How do people view someone who's

32:36

giving an interview in the wake

32:39

of some type of tragedy? Are

32:41

they too happy? Are they too

32:43

sad and the tears aren't real?

32:46

Yeah. Where's their emotions at? Jody's

32:48

family met John after her disappearance.

32:50

Her sister Joanne Nat. found him

32:53

odd and thought he could be

32:55

linked to her disappearance because he

32:57

seemed obsessed with Jody. Well, I

33:00

think he probably was obsessed with

33:02

her. Well, I think you jumped

33:04

on that pretty quickly about the

33:07

naming of the boat. It's kind

33:09

of a big thing to name

33:11

a boat. Yeah. And to name

33:14

it after this woman with whom

33:16

you're not romantically involved? Okay. I

33:18

mean, I know you're obsessed with

33:21

Jennifer Aniston. Was it weird when

33:23

you name your lawnmower Aniston 1?

33:25

And then you named your truck

33:28

Aniston 2? I thought it was

33:30

strange. You know, if you had

33:32

a vote, you probably would name

33:35

it the Aniston. Maybe. Yeah. I

33:37

don't know how your wife puts

33:39

up with that. She likes her

33:42

too. And she obviously views her

33:44

as no threat whatsoever. 48 hours

33:46

obtained a copy of a search

33:49

warrant for Jody's vehicle and learned

33:51

it was not in her name.

33:53

The license was listed to John

33:56

Lissar, the previous. owner pending title

33:58

transfer. Lissard is a local businessman.

34:00

He told 48 hours the sale

34:03

was arranged by a friend of

34:05

his who has since died. He

34:07

only met Jody to give her

34:10

the car keys. According to John's

34:12

friend, Ladonna Woodford, John said the

34:14

car was a birthday gift from

34:17

Jody's boyfriend, but she didn't want

34:19

it and planned to return it.

34:21

Annie Cruz said Jody never mentioned

34:24

anything. about someone buying the car

34:26

for her. She told 48 hours

34:28

that John was jealous when it

34:31

came to Jody, often inserting himself

34:33

into her conversations with others because

34:35

he wanted to make sure that

34:38

everybody knew Jody was hit. Okay,

34:40

and we're getting a lot more

34:42

insinuation now of his kind of

34:45

obsessive nature. Some substance here. Yeah,

34:47

around Jody. However, Lydana Woodford insisted

34:49

John was not interested in Jody

34:52

romantically saying, when he talked about

34:54

Jody, it was like, I'm protecting

34:56

her. She's like my daughter. She

34:59

also claimed that John was out

35:01

taking a walk with her on

35:03

the morning of the abduction, and

35:06

he didn't seem nervous at all.

35:08

John lived just five minutes away

35:10

from Jody, but Lydana doesn't think

35:13

he would have had enough time

35:15

to abduct Jody, possibly dispose of

35:17

her body. and be home by

35:20

6 a.m. when she called him

35:22

to confirm their walk. Well, I

35:24

think people would be surprised on

35:27

what you can get done in

35:29

a short period of time. Yeah,

35:31

I mean, if you're, you're talking

35:34

about a five minute drive, sometime

35:36

between 4.10 and 6 a.m. That's

35:38

almost a two hour period of

35:41

time. Let's say 4.30 by the

35:43

time she gets up, gets going,

35:45

you're probably looking at about an

35:48

hour and a half maybe, or

35:50

close to it. Sure. Sure. It's

35:52

definitely not a window of time

35:55

where you conclusively say that, well,

35:57

he couldn't have done it. Police

36:00

confirmed in the fall of 1995

36:02

that John passed a polygraph, which

36:04

he told the Des Moines Register

36:07

saying, I gave them all the

36:09

information I could possibly get. I've

36:11

tried to help as much as

36:13

I possibly could. I've been able

36:15

to verify where I've been in

36:17

my times, and that's not a

36:19

problem. Believe in them or not? I

36:21

mean, it's still somewhat positive that

36:24

he passed a polygraph. Well,

36:26

it's much better than it. You

36:28

know. showing deception or it

36:30

being inconclusive. By June 28th,

36:32

the FBI was asked to assist

36:34

the Mason City Police. The search

36:37

was called off on June 29th, and

36:39

the police announced they had interviewed

36:41

up to 100 people. On July

36:43

1st, Jody's disappearance was

36:46

reclassified as an

36:48

abduction. Investigators revealed that

36:50

someone at the apartment

36:52

complex heard a screen. On the

36:54

morning of June 27th, Police were

36:57

seeking a white mid-80s forward

36:59

a conno-line van that was seen

37:01

in the parking lot around the

37:03

time of the abduction. The police

37:06

received multiple tips and

37:08

investigated different leads, but

37:11

Jody's case went cold. Now, one

37:13

thing that I did think was

37:15

very strange was that the

37:17

FBI was asked to assist on

37:19

the 28th of June, and the very

37:21

next day the police said that

37:23

the search had been called off. It

37:25

does seem strange. You have the

37:28

FBI in there because I'm assuming

37:30

they thought at this point it

37:32

was a kidnapping, something the

37:34

FBI would get involved in.

37:37

On January 3rd 1997, a

37:39

21-year-old woman was kidnapped by

37:41

Raymond Henders. She claimed

37:43

he referenced Jody's disappearance

37:46

during their drive to

37:48

Canada where she alerted

37:50

authorities at the border

37:52

chat that she had been

37:54

kidnapped. All right pretty

37:56

scary right a 21 year old

37:58

woman is kidding I mean, very

38:00

smart to alert authorities at

38:03

the border, but it's really

38:05

this claim that her kidnapper

38:07

specifically referenced Jody's disappearance. Yeah,

38:09

so now it sounds like

38:11

it could be a potential

38:13

suspect. Yeah, absolutely. Now, in

38:15

what context we don't know,

38:17

could he have seen that

38:20

on the news and used

38:22

that maybe to scare her?

38:24

It's possible. It's also possible

38:26

he could have been involved.

38:28

Skeletal remains were found in

38:30

a remote wooded area near

38:32

Northwood Iowa in April 1997,

38:34

but investigators determined they were

38:36

not Jody's. In January 1998,

38:39

Minneapolis investigative reporter Caroline Low

38:41

identified a potential suspect. Serial

38:43

rapist Tony Jackson, who was

38:45

charged with raping four women.

38:47

In 18 days in the

38:49

Minneapolis area, he stalked the

38:51

victims beforehand. Jackson was arrested

38:53

in 1997 during a routine

38:55

traffic stop. Police discovered rope,

38:58

handcuffs, a gun, and duct

39:00

tape in his vehicle. Not

39:02

a good thing for the

39:04

police to find in your

39:06

vehicle? No, it definitely screams

39:08

out, hey, this is my

39:10

kit. Yes. Whether it's a

39:12

rape kid, a murder kid,

39:15

it's a kid that I'm

39:17

using to get up to

39:19

no good. Yeah. It's going

39:21

to be hard to explain

39:23

that one. Jackson was later

39:25

convicted in sentence to life

39:27

in prison for first degree

39:29

criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, and

39:31

first degree burglary. Jackson was

39:34

a star basketball player at

39:36

Waldorf College in Iowa, but

39:38

he had violent episodes and

39:40

was kicked out of school.

39:42

Around early 1994, he enrolled

39:44

in North Iowa Community College

39:46

in Mason City, Iowa. and

39:48

showed an interest in broadcasting.

39:50

The theory is that he

39:53

saw her on TV and

39:55

started stalking her. And it

39:57

happens. One of the dangers

39:59

of being a public figure

40:01

being on TV is that

40:03

you could draw the attention

40:05

of a stocker. Both men

40:07

and women. You think about

40:10

some of the men who

40:12

have had stockers. David Letterman.

40:14

That's true. I think McConaughey

40:16

had a stalker at one

40:18

point, but obviously a lot

40:20

of women, probably more women,

40:22

have stalkers than men. But

40:24

it can happen to anyone.

40:26

It's much more likely, I

40:29

think, to happen when you're

40:31

famous, when your face is

40:33

on the TV all the

40:35

time. A lot of times,

40:37

people become fascinated and hammered.

40:39

Well, they think they're closer

40:41

to you because of that

40:43

connection. Yeah, because a good

40:45

television anchor will draw you

40:48

in. I mean, I think

40:50

about one of those earlier

40:52

cases we did about Rebecca

40:54

Schaefer. Yeah. There was a

40:56

prime example of someone that

40:58

was so obsessed with a

41:00

very public person. Yeah, she

41:02

was on a hit TV

41:05

show and unfortunately this person

41:07

fixated on her and killed

41:09

her. Caroline Lowe spoke to

41:11

Jackson's ex-girlfriend, who said they

41:13

broke up five days before

41:15

Jody was abducted. She said

41:17

he was violent with her.

41:19

She said it was like

41:21

the devil stepped inside of

41:24

him and just took over.

41:26

Okay, the timing is interesting

41:28

there because five days before

41:30

the abduction, could that have

41:32

been a stressor in his

41:34

life that caused him to...

41:36

Do something. Well, absolutely it

41:38

could have been. They briefly

41:40

got back together, but he

41:43

was arrested for choking her.

41:45

The charges were later dropped

41:47

because she moved away and

41:49

declined to proceed with prosecution.

41:51

Just four months later, Jackson

41:53

committed the crimes free in

41:55

Minnesota. Reporter Caroline Love thought

41:57

the ex-girlfriend bore resemblance to

42:00

Jody. So, you know, when

42:02

you're talking about theories, you

42:04

have a woman who breaks

42:06

up with him, he's fixated

42:08

on Jody, the two. are

42:10

similar in appearance, and maybe

42:12

he decides he can't take

42:14

out his frustration on his

42:16

ex-girlfriend, that would be too

42:19

obvious. So he's going to

42:21

take it out on Jody.

42:23

Lo kept looking into his

42:25

case and learned that Jackson's

42:27

former cellmate claimed he confessed

42:29

to abducting and killing an

42:31

anchorwoman. He claimed Jackson bragged

42:33

about it in a rap

42:35

song and wrote down the

42:38

alleged lyrics. He said, She's

42:40

a stiffen around Tiffin in

42:42

a pile of silage in

42:44

a bylow, low below. You

42:46

could have a career as

42:48

a rapper. They would not

42:50

be with those words. That

42:52

was not the best rhyme

42:55

that I've ever heard, but

42:57

there was a theory that

42:59

Jody was buried on a

43:01

farm near a silo in

43:03

Tiffin a few hours from

43:05

Mason City. Law enforcement brought

43:07

cadaver dogs to a site

43:09

in Tiffin to search for

43:11

human remains, and the dogs

43:14

alerted that something had been

43:16

there. So, you know, you

43:18

go back to the lyrics,

43:20

they make a little more

43:22

sense. Sure they do. After

43:24

you learn that, but this

43:26

lead didn't pan out on

43:28

May 5th 1999, the Mason

43:30

City Police issued a statement

43:33

saying, after conducting a thorough

43:35

investigation, which included interviews, crime

43:37

laboratory analysis, records review, and

43:39

polygraph examination. Tony Jackson is

43:41

not considered at this time

43:43

a viable suspect in the

43:45

investigation. I mean I think

43:47

you had to be excited

43:50

at first. I mean it

43:52

felt like it could have

43:54

had legs. Yeah, yeah absolutely.

43:56

Now to me them coming

43:58

out and saying that he's

44:00

not a viable suspect is

44:02

a big deal. They're essentially

44:04

clearing him right? They don't

44:06

have to do that. Why

44:09

are they coming out and

44:11

saying that? In my mind

44:13

they have to be like...

44:15

really sure that there's no

44:17

way he could have done

44:19

this because what if it

44:21

turns out later that they

44:23

arrest and charge him? The

44:25

defense attorney is going to

44:28

say hey you came out

44:30

and you said that he's

44:32

not even a viable suspect.

44:34

Yeah exactly. So were you

44:36

lying then or are you

44:38

lying now? Jackson wrote to

44:40

four to eight hours in

44:42

2018. I stand firm in

44:45

my integrity regarding the Jody

44:47

Hozentrute case. He also did

44:49

a prison interview with ABC

44:51

in 2021, saying all that

44:53

I can tell you about

44:55

Jody is that she's become

44:57

a central part of my

44:59

life since I've been incarcerated.

45:01

It's been something that I've

45:04

been for many years, hoping

45:06

will be resolved so that

45:08

that stigma can be taken

45:10

away from me, so that

45:12

I can rest. So he's

45:14

saying I don't have nothing

45:16

to do with it. I

45:18

wish people would just leave

45:20

me alone. Yeah. Now the

45:23

fact that he's doing it

45:25

from prison, you know. Doesn't

45:27

really add much to his

45:29

credibility, but you know Jody

45:31

was declared legally dead on

45:33

May 14th 2001 Her sister

45:35

Joanne Knath said about the

45:37

decision per the Des Moines

45:40

Register This is one of

45:42

the hardest things I've ever

45:44

had to do. Everybody tells

45:46

us Jody is no longer

45:48

with us, but I still

45:50

hold out a faint glimmer

45:52

of hope. Why wouldn't you?

45:54

And I've said this before

45:56

it would be such a

45:59

hard decision to make, to

46:01

have a missing love. declared

46:03

legally death because you are

46:05

almost saying this faint glimmer

46:07

of hope I have I'm

46:09

extinguishing it right by making

46:11

you know this declaration. You

46:13

really never want to give

46:15

up in April 2001 a

46:18

new potential suspect was identified

46:20

a man named Anthony Zappa

46:22

who abducted a teenage girl

46:24

in Nebraska on January 23rd

46:26

1995 Zappa pleaded a string

46:28

of burglaries He was sentenced

46:30

to 15 years in prison,

46:32

but was released on appeal.

46:35

He was readmitted to prison

46:37

on September 1st, 1995, and

46:39

was paroled in March 1999.

46:41

Zappa continued committing crimes and

46:43

was wanted in five states

46:45

for car theft, assault, and

46:47

illegal gun possessions. He had

46:49

been on the run since

46:51

November 2000. After failing to

46:54

appear in Minnesota court on

46:56

a burglary charge, he escaped.

46:58

five bounty hunters in March

47:00

2001, wounding one during a

47:02

shootout, on April 7, 2001,

47:04

17-year-old Anne Slutie was abducted

47:06

from a shopping center parking

47:08

lot in Kearney, Nebraska. And

47:10

it was said that there

47:13

were some notable similarities to

47:15

the Jody, whose intrude case,

47:17

authorities found Anne's purse, another

47:19

belonging scattered near her car

47:21

in the parking lot. Witnesses

47:23

said a man approached Anne

47:25

as she walked to her

47:27

car, she was hit on

47:30

the head and forced into

47:32

a stolen minivan. The police

47:34

found the van in Colorado,

47:36

but there were no signs

47:38

of Anne or Anthony Zap.

47:40

So I get the similarities,

47:42

right? It doesn't conclusively mean

47:44

they're linked. They are similar.

47:46

But I think any time

47:49

that you're going to attack

47:51

someone Gibbs as they're getting

47:53

in their car. Is there

47:55

a chance that there are

47:57

some things that are going...

47:59

to be dropped and left

48:01

there. I say, yeah. Yeah, I think the

48:03

chances are pretty high. I mean,

48:05

is someone who's trying to abduct

48:08

a woman going to take the

48:10

time to bend down and pick

48:12

up all these various items? No.

48:14

That they don't care about? Zappa

48:16

was arrested on April 11th

48:18

at a secluded cabin in

48:21

Rollins, Montana. Anne Sludy was

48:23

with him and appeared to

48:25

be physically unharmed. She acted

48:27

as a negotiator. during the

48:30

10-hour standoff with police. And

48:32

that's kind of amazing in and

48:34

of itself. You know, you've

48:36

been kidnapped. Once the police catch

48:38

up with you and your abductor,

48:41

then you're kind of thrust in

48:43

this role as kind of the negotiator

48:45

to help end it. But you kind

48:47

of maybe have to do it for

48:49

your own life. To save, yeah,

48:51

to save yourself. Authorities believe Zappa

48:54

was in prison at the

48:56

time of Jody's disappearance disappearance.

48:58

But a review of Iowa

49:00

DOC records showed he was

49:02

released. He and his cousins lived

49:04

30 miles from Mason City.

49:06

Well, his cousins weren't too

49:09

far away. No. And cousins usually

49:11

never are. Zappa was most

49:13

likely ruled out as a potential

49:15

suspect because there don't seem

49:17

to be any recent articles

49:20

about him in connection with

49:22

Jody's case. So that's one of

49:24

those things Gibbs, you know, as your

49:26

research in a case. This guy comes

49:28

up and then it's like they

49:31

just stop writing about

49:33

him. So what does that mean?

49:35

Either the police ruled him

49:37

out or just nothing else

49:39

is materialized. And really

49:41

viable there. Yeah. TV

49:44

journalist Josh Benson and

49:46

Gary Peterson created the

49:48

group Fine Jody in

49:50

2003. This all-volunteer team

49:53

of journalists and former law

49:55

enforcement. Hope to close the

49:57

case. Find Jody is produced.

50:00

podcast, hosted events, and put up billboards,

50:02

bringing awareness to the case, their website

50:04

also has links to previous case coverage.

50:06

And it's a good resource if you

50:08

want to learn more about the case,

50:10

dive in a little deeper. Fine Jody

50:12

looked into the individuals questioned by the

50:14

police over the years, including John Van

50:16

Sykes. In 2017, the police obtained a

50:18

warrant. for GPS information on two of

50:20

John's vehicles. In 2018, Mason City Police

50:22

Chief Jeff Brinkley told 48 hours that

50:24

they didn't get any useful information from

50:26

the search, but that was all he

50:28

would say. The search warrant has been

50:30

resealed every year since. News Nation reported

50:32

that investigators convened a grand jury. In

50:34

2017, Van Sice was subpoenaed to testify.

50:36

and provide finger and palm prints. Iowa

50:38

authorities also convened a grand jury back

50:40

in 1997. John's friend, Ladonna Woodford, told

50:42

48 hours. She was subpoenaed in question

50:44

for five hours. Bandsise was not indicted

50:46

by either grand jury. It really sounds

50:48

like they couldn't find anything to move

50:50

forward with. Yeah, they just felt like

50:52

there wasn't enough. In April 2019. Van

50:54

Seiss made his first public statement in

50:56

24 years through private investigator Steve Ridge

50:58

who's been working the case for multiple

51:00

years. Per News Nation, Van Seiss said

51:02

he had absolutely no involvement in the

51:04

apparent abduction of his friend Jody Hoosentrude.

51:06

He denied having a romantic relationship with

51:08

Jody and said he was seeing another

51:10

woman at the time. Jody was like

51:12

a daughter to him. He also said

51:14

he is fully cooperated with law enforcement,

51:16

completed two voluntary polygraphs, had his DNA

51:18

tested, and his anger and

51:20

pampers taken. Well,

51:22

that's a lot of

51:24

voluntary cooperation. It

51:27

is. And I mean,

51:29

I think if

51:31

you are a person

51:33

who had something

51:35

to do with someone's

51:37

disappearance, do you

51:39

really want to volunteer

51:41

all of that

51:43

up? I don't think

51:45

so. I don't

51:47

think so either. So

51:49

by my way

51:51

of thinking, either had

51:53

nothing to do

51:55

with it or you're

51:57

going for broke,

51:59

right? You know you

52:01

did, but you're

52:03

hoping that by providing

52:05

all of this,

52:07

it makes you look

52:09

as though you're

52:11

not guilty and they

52:13

won't be able

52:15

to match anything anyway.

52:17

So I'll just

52:19

cooperate. Yeah. Van Seis

52:21

and his wife

52:23

asked Rich to disclose

52:25

that he was

52:27

diagnosed with Alzheimer's. This

52:29

weighed heavily in

52:31

the decision to issue

52:33

a definitive statement.

52:35

Rich said he viewed

52:37

an 11 -page medical

52:39

evaluation and can

52:41

attest to the formal

52:43

diagnosis. And what

52:45

do you make of

52:47

that, Gibbs? So

52:49

I feel like they're

52:51

saying, this is

52:54

what we're giving you.

52:56

There's nothing else

52:58

for us to give

53:00

you after this

53:02

point because his mind

53:04

is going to

53:06

deteriorate. Yeah. And if

53:08

he doesn't do

53:10

it now, he may

53:12

not have the

53:14

chance later on to

53:16

make these statements.

53:18

On March 11, 2021,

53:20

a citizen located

53:22

clothing and human bones

53:24

in the shore

53:26

of the Winnebago River

53:28

near North Illinois

53:30

Avenue in Mason City.

53:32

Officers searched the

53:34

area and found additional

53:36

bones. But here

53:38

again, there weren't

53:40

any other like follow -up

53:42

articles. So my assumption

53:44

is that these bones were

53:47

determined to not have

53:49

any connection with Jody's case

53:51

because obviously that would

53:53

have spurred a lot of

53:55

reporting. I mean, here's

53:57

another set of bones. found.

54:00

That's not hers, but obviously

54:02

they belong to somebody. Well,

54:04

it is disturbing that we're

54:06

finding so many bones. Yeah.

54:08

But it does come up in a

54:11

lot of cases, right? We're looking for

54:13

someone and we found bones. Okay,

54:15

it's not that person. We found

54:17

another set of bones. It's not

54:20

that person. Okay, well, who's killing

54:22

all these people? Are they just

54:24

dying naturally out in the in

54:26

the woods or in these areas?

54:28

In 2023. revealing that Jody

54:30

met a man just 10 days

54:32

before she disappeared. They saw each other

54:35

eight times in 10 days. They

54:37

golfed together, went out for dinner

54:39

and drinks. Bridge told News Nation

54:41

that Jody was preoccupied with this

54:43

man, and he took her out

54:45

of her normal routine, which

54:47

might have created intense jealousy

54:49

from others who were used

54:52

to having regular access to

54:54

her. This was the first

54:56

time. This information was made

54:58

public. Because Jody was a

55:00

public figure, he hoped someone who

55:02

might have seen her on a date

55:04

with this man would come forward.

55:07

Bridge added that he believes

55:09

there are three people who

55:11

have information who have not

55:13

come forward yet. He thinks

55:15

they could re-energize the case

55:17

if they do come forward. That's

55:20

really coming late to the party

55:22

though. It is. And you know,

55:24

you can question his motives, I guess,

55:26

if you want to. He does work.

55:28

for John, or at least did.

55:31

I don't know if he's

55:33

still working for him in

55:35

2023 when he does this

55:37

interview or not. So could

55:39

there be, you know, a motive

55:42

to put a different

55:44

spin on it? Maybe. But,

55:46

you know, if Jody was really

55:49

seeing someone, well, who

55:51

is that person? And

55:53

obviously, I mean, chances

55:55

are high that Police would

55:58

consider them a person. of interest.

56:00

In late 2024, private investigator

56:02

Steve Ridge announced he had

56:04

narrowed the suspect list from

56:06

29 to 4 people saying,

56:08

I'm 100% certain that I

56:10

do have Jody's killer or

56:12

at least a doctor on

56:15

my list. That's confidence. Yeah,

56:17

it doesn't mean it's true,

56:19

but he is saying it

56:21

with a large degree of

56:23

confidence. 100% certain is about

56:25

as you can be. I

56:27

don't know how you can

56:29

be any more certain. Certainly.

56:31

He believes jealousy over Jody's

56:33

new relationship was a motive

56:35

for her abduction. He told

56:37

News Nation, I think plain

56:39

and simply, things came to

56:41

a head, given the fact

56:43

that she had developed this

56:45

new relationship. I believe this

56:47

was ultimately the motive for

56:49

a confrontation that would have

56:51

occurred in the parking lot

56:53

at her keys apartments. Ridge

56:55

also disclosed that longtime person

56:58

of interest John Van Sykes.

57:00

was permanently incapacitated and unable

57:02

to aid in his own

57:04

defense. You know, which is

57:06

sad for him. Obviously, if

57:08

he didn't have anything to

57:10

do with it, he never

57:12

really got to see his

57:14

name cleared. Right. Now, if

57:16

he did have something to

57:18

do with it and a

57:20

grand jury at some point

57:22

indicts him while he's still

57:24

alive, it's going to be

57:26

tough. But at this time

57:28

in 2024, when he's saying

57:30

this, why would he need

57:32

to worry about aiding his

57:34

own defense? Well, I don't

57:36

know if he's worried about

57:39

it. I think this ridge

57:41

guy is just saying he'd

57:43

be, he would be unable

57:45

to. In late 2024, the

57:47

police confirmed, they searched a

57:49

property in Woodstead, Minnesota. The

57:51

search focused on land surrounding

57:53

a construction site where apartments

57:55

are being built, the police

57:57

didn't say. what information led

57:59

them to this area. And

58:01

that's always tough, right? They

58:03

give you just enough to

58:05

be tantalizing. Yeah. But not

58:07

enough to kind of let

58:09

you know what's really going

58:11

on or what is driving

58:13

them to take a look

58:15

here. In late December 2024,

58:17

Steve Ridge revealed John Van

58:20

Sykes passed away on December

58:22

6th and Arizona. In January

58:24

2025, two Iowa attorneys filed

58:26

a motion arguing that the

58:28

2017 search warrant should be

58:30

unsealed since Van Sykes died.

58:32

The motion stated, the state

58:34

has no right to conduct

58:36

an investigation after a person

58:38

is deceased. P.I. Steve Ridge

58:40

retains the attorneys who filed

58:42

the motion. He said about

58:44

unsealing the warrant, I think

58:46

it's time to lift the

58:48

cloud of suspicion that is

58:50

hung over Van Syce and

58:52

his family for many years.

58:54

So I think it's quite

58:56

obvious, gives that this investigator

58:58

Ridge does not believe that

59:01

John Van Syce was involved

59:03

at all. Sounds like it.

59:05

If anything, he's trying to

59:07

get this, this warrant unsealed

59:09

so that maybe it sheds

59:11

some light that will kind

59:13

of take the heat off

59:15

of John, even though at

59:17

this point he has passed

59:19

on. In February, Cerro Gordo

59:21

County Attorney Carlisle, they filed

59:23

a motion asking a judge

59:25

to keep the warrant seal.

59:27

arguing the ongoing investigation would

59:29

be compromised if the documents

59:31

were unsealed. Currently, there's a

59:33

hearing on the motion scheduled

59:35

for March 3rd. June 27,

59:37

2025 will mark 30 years

59:39

since Jody, whose intrude was

59:42

abducted. Anyone with information on

59:44

her case can contact the

59:46

Mason City Police Department at

59:48

641-421-363636 or email Iowa DCI

59:50

special agent Ryan Herman at

59:52

our at DPS.state.m.us. You can

59:54

also contact the fine Jody

59:56

group. So, you know, Gibbs,

59:58

as we wrap this one

1:00:00

up, there's no doubt about

1:00:02

it. There were a lot

1:00:04

of people who loved Jody

1:00:06

whose intrude. She was kind

1:00:08

of a shining light. She

1:00:10

was a celebrity in her

1:00:12

town and surrounding areas. I

1:00:14

think the mystery here is.

1:00:16

And there's a few of

1:00:18

them. Most of the unsolved

1:00:20

cases that we do. I

1:00:23

feel as though, you know,

1:00:25

someone sees somebody the night

1:00:27

before and then has no

1:00:29

idea what happened to them.

1:00:31

This case is different. You

1:00:33

know, you have someone talking

1:00:35

to Jody just after four

1:00:37

o'clock in the morning. She

1:00:39

says, okay, I'm on my

1:00:41

way in. Something happened. It

1:00:43

seems. From that point to

1:00:45

the point where she got

1:00:47

to her car. And what

1:00:49

was that? Yeah, I think

1:00:51

that's one mystery. Obviously the

1:00:53

second mystery is who did

1:00:55

it. You have this John

1:00:57

Van Sice guy who, you

1:00:59

know, seemed strange. Let's let's

1:01:01

be honest. There was some

1:01:04

strange things about him and

1:01:06

some of the things he

1:01:08

said. Well, hopefully we were

1:01:10

here more about what happened

1:01:12

at this hearing. Maybe that

1:01:14

will shed some light on...

1:01:16

who was involved? Well there's

1:01:18

there's definitely a reason why

1:01:20

both sides are in disagreement

1:01:22

about having you know this

1:01:24

warrant unsealed. There's there's something

1:01:26

in there and the county

1:01:28

attorney you know argued that

1:01:30

the investigation would be compromised

1:01:32

if the documents were unsealed.

1:01:34

I think that tells you

1:01:36

right there's something in there.

1:01:38

Yeah. But what is it?

1:01:40

We don't know. It would

1:01:42

be interesting to find that

1:01:45

out. have John Van Seiss,

1:01:47

which a lot of people

1:01:49

have looked at over the

1:01:51

years, as kind of being

1:01:53

a person of interest, if

1:01:55

not a viable suspect, you

1:01:57

know, if what Steve Ridge

1:01:59

is saying is correct, you

1:02:01

have this guy that Jody

1:02:03

had met, she was in

1:02:05

this new relationship, if all

1:02:07

of that is true, then

1:02:09

that guy to me becomes

1:02:11

a very compelling person. Sure.

1:02:13

in this case and you

1:02:15

just wonder why there's not

1:02:17

more out there about it?

1:02:19

Was it because it was

1:02:21

so new nobody in her

1:02:23

life really knew about it?

1:02:25

And obviously that person's not

1:02:28

going to come forward and

1:02:30

say, oh, by the way,

1:02:32

I had just entered into

1:02:34

a very recent relationship with

1:02:36

this woman if they were

1:02:38

somehow involved in it. So

1:02:40

that's a, you know, a

1:02:42

very interesting component for me.

1:02:44

But that's it for our

1:02:46

episode on the disappearance of

1:02:48

Jody, who's untrue. We could

1:02:50

find out some information sometime

1:02:52

soon, at least on whether

1:02:54

or not they're going to

1:02:56

unseal, you know, some of

1:02:58

these documents. We got some

1:03:00

voicemails, Gibbs. You want to

1:03:02

check them out? This is

1:03:04

Chrisie from Tennessee. First time

1:03:06

caller, but a long time

1:03:09

listener. I think I'm a

1:03:11

list of instance with Chevy

1:03:13

Kehoe case. And I just

1:03:15

wanted to thank you all

1:03:17

for the podcast. Y'all do

1:03:19

a great job with covering

1:03:21

these cases with respect and

1:03:23

I also enjoy the banter

1:03:25

between you two. I did

1:03:27

want to mention that there

1:03:29

is a case from our

1:03:31

local area, a girl named

1:03:33

Summer Wales. She is five

1:03:35

years old and she was

1:03:37

missing in 2021. And while

1:03:39

she has been covered on

1:03:41

other podcasts, it's been a

1:03:43

while and I think with

1:03:45

a research you all do,

1:03:47

you all could do a

1:03:50

great justice with covering her

1:03:52

case. I believe her aren't

1:03:54

also missing. like decades before.

1:03:56

But anyways, thank you all

1:03:58

so much again for the.

1:04:00

podcast and yes great thanks

1:04:02

Bob. All right thanks for the

1:04:04

voicemail and that's definitely a case

1:04:07

that we'll look in. Yeah sounds

1:04:09

like a good one to look

1:04:11

into thank you. Hi this

1:04:13

call is from Indiana there's

1:04:15

an unsolved murder of a

1:04:17

10 year old boy Blake

1:04:19

Dickus and his 26 year

1:04:21

old stepmother who was also

1:04:23

murdered at the same time

1:04:26

in Franklin Indiana. I think

1:04:28

it was July of 2006

1:04:30

and it's still unsolved today.

1:04:32

You just don't see much

1:04:34

coverage anymore. But the thing

1:04:36

that always stood out to

1:04:38

me was the number of,

1:04:40

or I guess the amount of

1:04:42

construction that was going on

1:04:44

in the area at the

1:04:47

time. They had just moved

1:04:49

into their house like a

1:04:51

month prior, Blake's father rather.

1:04:53

And so there was construction

1:04:55

going on in the subdivision, but

1:04:58

there was also at high school

1:05:00

being built nearby. And so I

1:05:02

feel like they focused heavily on

1:05:04

some burglaries that had gone on,

1:05:06

but this was like during the

1:05:09

day with people home. So I

1:05:11

feel like it would be less

1:05:13

a burglary than something else. Anyway,

1:05:15

I feel like having eyes on

1:05:17

that again might help the family

1:05:20

out. Thank you. All

1:05:22

right, another great suggestion sure we will

1:05:24

add it to the list and and

1:05:26

check it out Thank you, you know, some

1:05:28

of those ones we do check out and

1:05:30

then we we find out There's just not

1:05:33

enough out there, you know to make a full

1:05:35

episode. Yeah, yeah, but we'll check on

1:05:37

them for sure All right, buddy. That is

1:05:39

it for another episode of true crime

1:05:41

all the time unsolved. So for Mike

1:05:44

and Gabey stay safe and keep your

1:05:46

own time ticking How

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