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Three decades after an Iowa news anchor vanished without a trace while on her way to work, a documentary has suggested a new person of interest as authorities aim to solve a case that was previously thought to have gone cold.
Brad Millerbernd, the ex-husband of Jodi Huisentruit’s childhood best friend Patty Niemeyer, was investigated by Iowa police after tips suggested he may have been involved in the 1995 abduction of Huisentruit, according to a newly released ABC News documentary titled “Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit.”
Niemeyer reportedly revealed her ex-husband matched unreleased police suspect sketches, with Millerbernd living approximately three hours from Huisentruit’s apartment at the time of her disappearance, according to the show.
“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.”
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Millerbernd has maintained his innocence throughout the three-decade-long investigation, and has continued to cooperate with authorities, according to the documentary. Fox News Digital reached out to Millerbernd for comment, but did not receive a response. Police would not confirm or deny whether they have looked at him in connection with the investigation.
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“MCPD continues to investigate Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance and hopes that the current information is able to produce useful leads that help bring some closure to the case for the family and our community,” Police Chief Jeff Brinkley said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “We have not discussed suspects or persons of interest with the media in the past and do not intend to start doing so now.”
Huisentruit vanished on the morning of June 27, 1995, as she was on her way to work as a morning show anchor at local news station KIMT-TV, according to Fox 9. She called a coworker to say she was on her way to the station, but never arrived.
Following the discovery of her belongings and signs of a struggle outside of her Mason City apartment – including a bent key and pair of high heels on the ground near her vehicle – police quickly ruled that Huisentruit was abducted. Additionally, a witness reported seeing a white van in the area and hearing a scream.
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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.
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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.”
Fox News Digital’s Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report.
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