Three decades have passed since an Iowa news anchor disappeared without a trace on her way to work, and now a documentary has identified a new person of interest to help authorities crack a case once deemed cold.
Brad Millerbernd, who was once married to Patty Niemeyer, Jodi Huisentruit’s childhood best friend, came under investigation by Iowa police after receiving tips implicating him in Huisentruit’s 1995 kidnapping, as highlighted in the latest ABC News documentary “Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit.”
The documentary discloses that Niemeyer shared information indicating her ex-husband matched secret police sketches of a suspect, and at the time of Huisentruit’s disappearance, Millerbernd resided about three hours away from her apartment.
“It was a very moving experience,” Maria Awes, executive producer of the documentary, told Fox News Digital. “Here you have somebody who was extremely close to Jodi, who was in her very tight circle of friends, grew up with her – all of those things. Now, she believes that her own ex-husband may have had something to do with Jodi’s disappearance. To come forward takes an extreme amount of bravery.”
The apartment complex where Jodi Huisentruit resided and mysteriously disappeared from in Mason City, Iowa, on June 27, 1995. (Steve Kagan/Getty Images)
Despite an extensive search, authorities never located Huisentruit and no arrests have been made in her disappearance. She was declared legally dead in 2001.
“We haven’t put this down, we haven’t stopped working, we have not stopped pursuing leads and information,” Brinkley told Fox 9.
Last year, officers searched a property in nearby Winsted, Minnesota, located about 170 miles from Mason City, but did not find anything pertaining to the Huisentruit’s disappearance. Authorities have not released what led police to the property.
A flyer publicizing Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance posted in Mason City, Iowa, on July 3, 1995. (Steve Kagan/Getty Images)
A 2017 search warrant tied to the investigation and released earlier this year revealed authorities looked to obtain GPS data from two vehicles connected to a friend of Huisentruit, John Vansice, who has reportedly since passed away, according to Fox 9.
The warrant was for a 1999 Honda Civic and 2013 GMC registered to Vansice. He was one of the last people to see Huisentruit alive and previously stated he had cooperated with local, state and federal investigators, Fox 9 reported.
Despite the countless dead ends, Huisentruit’s family remains hopeful that their daughter will be found 30 years after she vanished.
“The pain and anguish felt by us and all who loved Jodi are immeasurable,” Huisentruit’s family said in a statement on the Jodi Hope’s Facebook page on the anniversary of her disappearance. “True peace will only be given to us when Jodi is found and justice is served for her. We know it is hard to have hope for resolution after so many years, but we still choose to hope that one day soon it will happen.”
