On June 27th, 1995, Iowa news anchor Jodi Husentrout was running late for her morning shift when she vanished from the parking lot of her apartment complex. Her belongings were found scattered near her car, but no other trace of her has ever been found.
00:00:00.440Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show, live on Sirius XM Channel 111 every weekday at New East.
00:00:12.140Hey everyone, I'm Megyn Kelly. Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show and Crime Week, because nothing says Christmas like true crime.
00:00:19.920The disappearance of Iowa news anchor Jody Husentrout has remained one of the nation's most haunting, unsolved cases for more than 30 years.
00:00:28.340This happened just a few years before I got into news, and I remember finding this whole thing just so awful, so chilling.
00:00:35.520She was just a couple of years older than I was, and she seemingly disappeared into thin air.
00:00:41.080In the early morning hours of June 27th, 1995, think of where you were.
00:00:46.440I was graduating from law school, and she was making her name in news.
00:00:49.780She was running late for her early morning shift at KIMT-TV when she vanished from the parking lot of her apartment complex.
00:00:58.120Her belongings, left scattered near her car, suggested an abduction.
00:01:03.100No other trace of her has ever been found.
00:01:06.760It's a case that has captivated the public and inspired many to continue following the tragic mystery, even some 30 years later.
00:01:14.280There's an active Facebook page and community run by Jody's family.
00:01:19.440It's facebook.com slash hope4, the numeral 4, Jody, J-O-D-I.
00:01:26.080There's a website, findjody.com, run by journalists who continue to share her story.
00:01:32.540You can find information about the disappearance and leave tips.
00:01:35.000And another person who has spent years examining this case is private investigator Steve Ridge.
00:01:42.140He's a persistent voice pushing for answers, and he joins me next.
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00:03:05.620Well, she was from Minnesota, but she had an incredible amount of natural talent that manifested itself in a relatively short period of time.
00:03:16.060She began as an intern in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she was for about a year.
00:03:21.060And then she returned to Alexandria, Minnesota to work at a local TV station there.
00:03:28.580And then eventually my company helped relocate her to Mason City, K-I-M-T, where we were coaching her on air ability and trying to eliminate some of that Minnesotan accent, if you will, to make her appeal broader.
00:03:53.140At that time, I was actually running Frank Maggett Associates, which was the largest media research and consulting firm in the United States.
00:04:02.940And I was with that company for 37 years.
00:04:06.500I knew of the case of Jody the whole time, but until I semi-retired, I was not in a position really to actively investigate this full time.
00:06:21.940I mean, obviously, this abduction happened about 4.30, and they really weren't on the scene until closer to 7.30.
00:06:29.800The fact of the matter is, I am now 100% convinced that Jody actually had an overnight guest.
00:06:37.400And there's been a lot of speculation about that.
00:06:40.020And I don't want to cast any aspersions here because it was, I think, a very innocent invitation.
00:06:47.680She lived up a high flight of stairs on a second floor.
00:06:51.540And I'm certain that she was entertaining her guests with drinks.
00:06:55.400It would have been after 10 o'clock at night.
00:06:58.300And I'm sure she simply offered the couch, which she did have at the ready there for that gentleman to spend the night.
00:07:06.240And then I can quickly tell you that I believe what happened is her phone rang around 4 o'clock, and it awakened them both.
00:07:15.400I think she went into the restroom, and after going to the bathroom, I think she got in the shower.
00:07:22.220I think the guest went in the bathroom and raised the toilet seat, which is the way it was left, used the toilet, and then headed down to the parking lot.
00:07:33.340So you think he used the toilet and then left?
00:07:36.780Because there was evidence from the beginning that there were two wine glasses on her counter, like next to each other, and there was a fair amount of food in the apartment, and the toilet seat was up.
00:07:47.420So there's been speculation over the years about whether there had been somebody staying overnight.
00:08:02.120I think it's one of two people, neither of whom have taken a lie detector test, and neither of whom have come clean.
00:08:13.060And there are some reasons why they might not want to have that information be known.
00:08:18.460But I think at this juncture, they have an obligation really to help solve this crime, because I think that what happened is they went down to the parking lot to scurry out of there.
00:08:32.020And by the way, when this individual got in their little sports car and drove out of the parking lot, they nearly hit an early morning jogger who reported the whole incident.
00:08:42.000And I think what happened was they went down to the parking lot, and there was a gentleman waiting down there that exchanged words with this individual and told them basically to get the hell out of here and don't ever come back.
00:08:53.800And you think that individual is the one who took Jody?
00:08:57.100You're not suggesting the person who hurt Jody is the person who was in her apartment that night?
00:09:03.160I am, you know, I'm just more than certain of it.
00:09:07.200And I've confirmed this with so many angles and little minute distinction of information that I think it's so crystal clear now that I actually think, you know, if I could work with somebody like you, I think we could have a circumstantial case built and ready to go in short order.
00:09:25.840But that's not going to happen in Mesa City, Iowa.
00:09:28.440Wait, you have a circumstantial case that she had a man in the apartment that night or that you know who the killer is?
00:12:16.280I thought it was very odd and so did a lot of other people that he spent so much time with Jody and he was so much older than her.
00:12:23.060Do you know, are you prepared to reveal the identity of the man who was in her apartment overnight, the one who drove away in a sports car?
00:12:29.760Well, because it's two individuals, I think it's important that I not name either one of them.
00:12:35.680But they are both people who she knew very well, had gotten to know, and had been friends with.
00:12:42.740So it would have been very logical and appropriate for them to have possibly had drinks in her apartment and then for him to be awakened suddenly at four o'clock and then depart.
00:12:54.760So you're saying when you say because it's two individuals, do you mean two individuals who might have been there or what do you mean?
00:13:02.560So pinpointing which one was there, while important, is less important than the fact that whichever one it was, when they descended those stairs and went into the parking lot, there was a gentleman waiting to confront her.
00:13:18.700And I'm quite confident that I know who that was.
00:14:41.960I've been to see him in prison multiple times.
00:14:44.720I've been up and down, you know, through the whole thing.
00:14:47.460I'm convinced he was not, even though he's a three-time convicted rapist, he was not responsible for Jody's demise.
00:14:57.640Three-time convicted rapist who lived just two blocks away from Jody's apartment.
00:15:03.560No charges ever resulted against him, but obviously convicted rapist living two blocks away would have to be on the short list of people they'd look at.
00:15:12.080So you're saying you don't, that was a dead lead, Tony Jackson went nowhere.
00:15:17.140This Christopher Rivack was charged with second-degree murder in connection with the March 2007 killing, so two years later, well, sorry, 12 years later, of Renee Williams, a 36-year-old mother of three.
00:15:31.240Rivack died by suicide in a Missouri jail cell in 2009, the day after he was, the charges were filed against him.
00:15:39.960And he had a girlfriend who once lived very close to Jody's apartment in a unit reportedly shared with John Van Cease.
00:15:49.560So this guy's got a girlfriend who lives right by Jody, and he was charged with second-degree murder of a 36-year-old woman, and then he killed himself when he got arrested.
00:22:08.040So, without a doubt, the person who abducted her was somebody she knew well.
00:22:15.100So, this wasn't a stalker-type situation.
00:22:17.620Sadly, I've had this in my own life where a viewer develops a very bizarre and dangerous fixation with you and thinks you're in a romantic relationship when you're not.
00:22:52.880So, if that's the case, you're reporting that she was in her apartment with another man, someone other than this person, the night before she was murdered, may provide a motive.
00:23:06.940I mean, to me, it's kind of an open-and-shut case.
00:23:10.620And I hate to say it that way, but, you know, I've had seven years to work on this.
00:23:14.860I have 190 files behind me here on the case.
00:23:18.160I've interviewed now over 1,000 people, and every little piece, I mean, you know this as an attorney and as a journalist, that every little piece of the puzzle can be kept, and you keep trying to refit it and put it together, and eventually you get a mosaic that makes a lot of sense.
00:23:38.000And, I mean, I feel like I have this thing so nailed that I don't know what else to do.
00:23:44.500I want to back up a little bit because, you know, the audience is still a little lost on exactly how this went down.
00:23:50.660You, in the documentary, which we're going to rely on here because it was very interesting and had a lot of good evidence, they interviewed the Mason City Police Sergeant.
00:26:46.800Unfortunately, when they examined that automobile, because her key was found bent laying on the ground
00:26:55.540and the car door was locked, they only processed the exterior of the car.
00:27:01.840And then they towed the car and gave it back to her family before anyone ever had a chance to go in and process the interior of the car, which might have had some evidence.
00:27:14.860I mean, to assume that no one had been in the car is just I mean, it just doesn't make sense that you wouldn't process the entire vehicle.
00:27:25.220But this being 2000 or 1995, there wouldn't have been a bunch of surveillance cameras on every store and apartment complex and gas station.