Judge to decide if search warrant in Huisentruit case will be unsealed

Senior Judge James Drew will decide within 30 days whether a search warrant related to the 1995 disappearance of KIMT-TV anchor Jodi Huisentruit should remain sealed now that John Vansice, a longtime person of interest in the case, has died.

The warrant, which involves GPS data from a 1999 Honda Civic and a 2013 GMC 1500 that were connected to Vansice, initially was filed and executed in March 2017. The warrant was sealed the same day and has remained secret ever since.

Attorneys for private investigator Steve Ridge filed a petition in Cerro Gordo County District Court to unseal the warrant following Vansice's apparent death in December in Arizona. Ridge announced Vansice's death in a news release, but provided no evidence of the death at a court hearing Monday.

Jesse Marzen, one of the attorneys representing Ridge, said the state has no right to investigate individuals after their deaths and that Mason City Police Chief Jeff Brinkley has stated the search warrant uncovered nothing of interest in the case.

He also said Vansice, an acquaintance of Huisentruit and believed to be one of the last people to see the 27-year-old alive before her disappearance on June 27, 1995, from her Mason City apartment, lived the last years of his life "under the cloud of suspicion and accusation" and his family deserves to have his name cleared.

"The family needs closure on this," said Ridge's other attorney, Nellie O’Mara.

Cerro Gordo County Attorney Carlyle Dalen said the warrant should remain sealed because Huisentruit's disappearance remains under investigation. He noted the affidavit attached to the warrant contains information dating to the first day of the investigation that only law enforcement officials know.

That information needs to be kept from the public so officers can determine if people they question about the case are telling the truth, Dalen said. Unsealing the warrant would "affect their ability to do their job," he said, noting that search warrants frequently are sealed.

In addition, Dalen requested Drew continue the seal the warrant for another five years, unless something happens to justify unsealing it. For example, if someone were to be charged in the Huisentruit case, the defense would be able to see the contents of the warrant as part of the discovery process, he said.

Dalen said he has no problem with Judge Drew looking at the affidavit to determine if the facts and circumstances in the case would compromise the investigation if it were made public.

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Drew asked if he would be able to order portions of the search warrant to be unsealed while keeping other parts confidential.

Marzen said he believes that would be permissible.

But Dalen said he doesn't know how someone could determine which parts of the warrant are relevant to the ongoing investigation.

"It is our position that the entire thing is relevant and needs be sealed," he said.

O'Mara argued that even though Dalen says the investigation into Huisentruit's disappearance is ongoing, "he's not even willing to unseal a search warrant that may have information in there that people may know," which could prompt members of the public to come forward as witnesses.

In 2017, Vansice was subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury at the U.S. District Courthouse in Cedar Rapids. However, he was never charged in the case.

Vansice videotaped a birthday party he threw for Huisentruit just days before her disappearance. Vansice said Huisentruit was at his house the night before she disappeared, watching that tape.

Huisentruit told a colleague she was on her way to work early that morning but never showed up. Police found signs of a struggle outside her Mason City apartment.

Vansice said he passed a polygraph test shortly after Huisentruit’s disappearance.

Huisentruit was declared legally dead in May 2001.

In 2004, police checked the basement of a home formerly occupied by Vansice, but said the search yielded no new information.

Anyone with information about Huisentruit’s disappearance is asked to contact the Mason City Police Department at (641) 421-3636.