A Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, judge has approved FindJodi, Inc.’s request to shoot video of the March 3 court hearing regarding a sealed search warrant in the Jodi Huisentruit investigation. We will post the courtroom footage as soon as possible here at FindJodi.com, and our Facebook page.
Four other media organizations also received the green light to electronically record the hearing in Mason City at 2 p.m. CST on Monday. Those journalists represent two local television stations, a radio station, and the Globe Gazette newspaper.
Senior Judge James Drew will listen to arguments on a legal motion to unseal a 2017 search warrant for GPS data from two vehicles connected to John Vansice.
Attorneys Nellie O’Mara and Jesse Marzen argued in their motion that the document should be unsealed, saying that since Vansice “passed away in December 2024 and, as such, any ongoing motion investigation into this matter has now ceased.”
County Attorney Carlyle Dalen strongly opposes making the search warrant public. In his counter motion, Dalen argued, “State is conducting an ongoing investigation of the incident. The death of a person of interest, John Vansice, has not stopped or altered the investigation.”
After he listens to the attorneys at Monday’s hearing, Judge Drew can issue a ruling from the bench or take the case under advisement and release his decision at a later date on whether to unseal the warrant.
County Attorney Dalen said he can’t remember seeing a similar motion in the thirty years he’s been a prosecutor. He also said he’d be shocked if the judge approved the request to make its contents public.
In an interview in 2018 about the GPS warrant, Mason City Police Chief Jeff Brinkley told “48 Hours” correspondent Jim Axelrod, “We didn’t get any information that was useful.”
It will be thirty years on June 27 since Jodi was abducted in the dark in the parking lot of the Key Apartments in Mason City. Jodi was attacked as she was getting into her car to go to KIMT-TV to anchor the early morning news.
On this sad milestone anniversary, FindJodi will host another memorial event in Mason City to honor Jodi and appeal for information to help solve her case.
Throughout the year, our FindJodi billboard continues to urge people to come forward. Our message: “Don’t sit in silence…the time to talk is NOW.”
It’s been an agonizing, long wait for answers for Jodi’s family. They want to be able to finally bring her home to Long Prairie, Minnesota.
If you have information to help investigators solve Jodi’s case, call the Mason City Police Department at (641) 421-3636 or email Iowa DCI Special Agent Ryan Herman at rherman@dps.state.mn.us. You can also reach out to FindJodi, Inc.
