Did They Find Jodi Huisentruit? After a New Tip, Here's Where Her Tragic Case Stands

It's been 30 years since news anchor Jodi Huisentruit mysteriously went missing. She was a beloved member of her Iowa town, and then suddenly she was the subject of a manhunt and desperate search before the clock ran out.

After decades of looking and her case eventually evolving into an unsolved cold case for lack of evidence, did they ever find Jodi Huisentruit? A new documentary revisits Huisentruit's case with an eye for finally uncovering the truth after so many years. Here's what we know about whether or not Huisentruit's case was eventually, finally, solved.

Huisentruit was 27 years old when the unthinkable happened. An outgoing and well-spoken blonde news anchor, Jodi was running late for work when she disappeared on June 27, 1995, in Mason City, Iowa.

Around 4 a.m. that day, one of the producers at her news station, KIMT, called to see why she was late for work. Jodi explained that she had overslept and would rush over as quickly as possible.

She never arrived.

Colleagues later called the police to check on her. When they arrived at her apartment, they found signs that a struggle had ensued and that she had been taken, but clues were few.

Among those clues were her car keys, bent and discarded near her car; earrings, high heels, and a blow dryer all strewn across the parking lot; and a palm print on her car.

Unfortunately, despite decades of searching and an enthusiastic effort from the public, Huisentruit was never found, alive or dead. She was declared legally dead in 2001, although family and friends never gave up on an answer. On the 30th anniversary of her disappearance in June 2025, the online group Find Jodi posted, "30 years. It's time. Don't make Jodi Huisentruit's family and friends wait another year for you to come forward. They need answers and justice."

However, a documentary released in 2025 aimed to answer at least some questions after a new tip was dropped by someone who knew Huisentruit. Among persons of interest regarding her disappearance was the last person to see her alive, a friend of hers named John Vansice, who had spent the evening before watching a movie with Huisentruit. He was initially cooperative, but balked after his stories didn't seem to add up. He died in 2024, but no evidence was ever compelling enough to charge him with anything, according to the doc.

But in 2022, 20/20 aired a special on Huisentruit's disappearance, and it prompted Huisentruit's friend, Patty Niemeyer, to think of a new connection to a person of interest. That person? Her ex-husband, Brad Millerbernd. A number of compelling clues seemed to match with Millerbernd, including the fact that he later admitted to taking Huisentruit out once, and he had a white van that matched one witnesses said they spied near the scene of Huisentruit's disappearance. Niemeyer also believed a crime sketch matched her ex's appearance.

Niemeyer and Millerbernd had just signed their divorce papers four days before Huisentruit went missing. There were at least three other persons of interest in the case, but none of them were connected strongly enough to the evidence to face charges.

After more than 30 years, Huisentruit's case remains unsolved.

It's a heartbreaking end to a puzzling story. In the Hulu and ABC News docuseries Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit, filmmakers investigated Niemeyer's claims and looked at the evidence with fresh eyes.

Yet just like everything else related to this bizarre and unfathomable case, no solid answers have been found.