Jodi Huisentruit's apartment

Crime Scene Location in Mason City, Iowa, United States

This is the apartment complex where TV news anchor Jodi Huisentruit was abducted.

It is situated at 550 North Kentucky Avenue in Mason City, Iowa.

The abduction occurred in the parking lot outside of Building C, which is on the southern side of the complex.

Huisentruit was a news anchor for a local television station called KIMT.

At around 4:10 a.m. on June 27th, 1995, a producer at the station realized that Huisentruit still hadn't arrived at work. That morning, she was supposed to begin her shift at 3:30 a.m.

When the producer called the 27-year-old, she explained that she had overslept and that she was getting ready to leave her apartment.

This wasn't anything out of the ordinary for Jodi, as she had been late on a number of occasions in the past.

However, three hours later, there was still no sign of her. Fearing that something might be wrong, the station contacted the police and asked them to perform a welfare check.

When officers arrived at Jodi's apartment complex on North Kentucky Avenue, they immediately saw signs that a struggle had occurred.

Her red Mazda Miata was still in the parking lot, and her belongings were scattered around it. Her high-heeled shoe, car key, earrings, and hair dryer were all found on the floor. There were also drag marks on the ground near her car, which indicated that someone may have grabbed the news anchor and pulled her away.

The key for her Mazda was slightly bent. This raises the possibility that Jodi's attacker ambushed her from behind while she was trying to open her car door.

During the investigation, it was discovered that neighbors had heard a woman screaming at roughly the same time that Huisentruit would have left.

Unfortunately, it appears as though these screams were largely ignored, as no one called the police or checked to see what was happening.

Early that morning, a passerby reportedly saw a mid-1980s white Ford Econoline van in the lot. Notably, the van had its lights on at the time.

Despite multiple public appeals, the vehicle in question has never been identified.

A forensic investigation of the crime scene uncovered a strand of hair and a partial palm print from Jodie's Mazda. Other than that, there was very little evidence.

Although law enforcement conducted multiple searches and carried out hundreds of interviews, no trace of Jodi Huisentruit was ever found.

Six years after her disappearance, she was legally declared dead.

The case remains active to this day.

Where was Jodi Huisentruit abducted?

Below, you will find the address and the GPS coordinates for this location.

GPS coordinates

The latitude and longitude coordinates for the apartment are:

43.156687, -93.182119

Map

To view directions on how to get there, you can use the Google Maps shortcut below:

Google Maps Link

Address

The full address for this location is:

Building C
550 N Kentucky Avenue
Mason City
Iowa
IA 50401
United States

Directions

The apartment complex is situated on the northeastern side of Mason City, beside the Winnebago River. It sits to the north of a developed parkland called East Park.

Details about the general area

Mason City is a small city in the north of Iowa. It is situated in Cerro Gordo County.

Photos

Photos of the apartment and other related images.

Apartment complex

This Google Street View image of the "Key Apartments" complex on Kentucky Avenue was taken in June of 2021.

Jodi Huisentruit's abduction occurred at the far end of the parking lot.

In the top right-hand corner, you can see a crime scene photograph of her Mazda Miata.

Aerial image

This aerial image highlights the area where Jodi was seemingly attacked.

In the top left-hand corner, you can see a photograph of the entrance to Building C.

Theories

It is believed that the abduction took place at roughly 4:30 a.m. Although it was summer, it would have still been pretty dark out, as civil twilight didn't begin until 30 minutes later.

One theory suggests that Jodi was being stalked. In the months before her disappearance, she reportedly expressed concerns that she was being followed. However, detectives have expressed scepticism about this theory.

If someone was following her, then it stands to reason that they would have known her schedule. In other words, they would have expected her to leave before 3.30 a.m.

This means that they would have had to hang around in the parking lot for more than an hour after she was supposed to leave for work.

Another issue with this theory is that the news anchor didn't receive any letters or gifts. In the vast majority of stalking cases, the perpetrator will attempt to establish a relationship with their victim by sending them flowers, letters, or other items.

They usually only become intimidating or physically violent after their advances have been rebuffed.

All of this tends to happen over a period of time in which the stalker's behavior starts out relatively harmless and then escalates.

Because there is no evidence of a strange man attempting to forcibly insert themselves into the new anchor's life, it seems more likely that this was a crime of opportunity.

If this was the case, then it suggests that Jodi Huisentruit's killer had ties to the apartment complex. For example, he or someone else he knew lived there.

The killer may have known her or even watched her leaving for work in the past. That or he was a complete stranger who simply saw his chance and took it.

Either way, it seems likely that he would have had a reason for being there at that time.

Although Jodi's acquaintance, John Vancise, is a person of interest in the case, there is no doubt that he has been thoroughly investigated.

Vancise reportedly had an alibi. There is also no evidence to suggest that he had any involvement in her murder.

Having said all of that, his behavior in the immediate aftermath of her disappearance has raised eyebrows.

After passing a lie detector test, he reportedly told a local news reporter that he was going to celebrate. One of Vancise's coworkers also stated that he was acting weird on the morning of Huisentruit's disappearance, and that he said she was "gone".

In 2017, the police obtained a search warrant for GPS data belonging to two of Vancise's old vehicles. Although nothing of value was found, it has led to speculation about what the authorities were hoping to find and what reasonable cause they had to convince a judge to approve such a warrant.

This location belongs to the following categories:

Crime Scenes Missing People Unsolved Cases