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Find Jodi Message Board
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| Viewing Page 1 of 1 (Total Posts: 6) |
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Grainne Dhu
 Nov 25, 07 - 6:35 PM |
Newcomer with new theory
I've lived in Iowa all my life, relatively near Mason City. Every few years I've checked to see if there was anything new about Jodi Huisentruit's disappearance. I had a couple (fairly chaotic) thoughts about what may have happened; I've only read about half the posts to this message board so far and haven't seen anything like it but I may not have seen the right post. Please excuse me if this has already been looked into. For whatever it's worth, here's my theory: I think there was a single perpetrator; I think if there had been more than one person involved, the rest of her belongings would have been picked up, not just her purse and briefcase. Besides, in general, a secret known to more than one living person doesn't stay a secret for long. I don't think Jodi was personally targeted and I don't think Jodi knew the perpetrator. I think it was the location that was targeted by a sexual predator because it was near a couple apartment buildings that had a fair number of young women of this predator's preferred age range. I'm sure that Jodi was normally a cautious person but she had overslept that morning, was very late for work and was therefore flustered and just concentrating on getting to work right away. I think he made a blitz-style attack, using some sort of weapon to knock her unconscious at the place where he attacked her, grabbed her briefcase and purse (or she had her purse over her arm and it stayed with her), dragged her to his vehicle and took off. This took less than a minute to accomplish. After the attack, the perpetrator never went near that area again. I don't think he has stopped killing; I think that he's playing the "jump jurisdictions" game to keep his crimes from being linked. I think he goes a minimum of 60 miles from his residence to commit the crimes and that he makes several trips to scout for possible locations before each crime. He looks for mid-sized towns, large enough so that a stranger can blend in, small enough to be exited fairly quickly. I'm guessing that his preferred victims are slender women who look around 22-24 years old. In practice, this means that his victims could range from very mature looking 16 year olds to very young looking 40 year olds. I don't know if blondes are part of his target group but I think women with jaw length or longer hair probably are. I'm not convinced on the white van. The Beltway Sniper case made it clear that there are lots and lots of white Ford vans on the road. On the other hand, such vans do make good vehicles for criminal activity because of the lack of windows and they are relatively cheap. Cheap enough to junk after a crime for a perpetrator who is extremely cautious. What I think might be a slightly different direction for investigation would be to interview everyone who lived in those apartment buildings and used either parking lot anytime in the three months or so before Jodi was abducted. Maybe anyone who used those parking lots from 15 March 1995 to 27 June 1995. In particular, ask any women who lived there who were 16-40 years old in 1995 (28-53 years old in 2007) if they had felt they were being followed or stalked in that time period. I don't know if it would be possible to look into vehicle registrations in Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska for Ford vans (any colour) that were registered in 1995 but not registered again in 1996. Even better would be if they could separate out the Econoline passenger vans (have more windows) from the Econoline commercial vans (only have windows in front). |
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Grainne Dhu
Dec 1st, 2007 - 5:37 AM |
Re: Newcomer with new theory
An Cat, I salute you! Very few people connect my nym with Grace O'Malley (properly Grainne Ni Maihlle). You know your Irish history, that is clear. I hadn't realized that Jodi also had an interest in Gaelic history. I'm inclined to rule out anyone who had a direct connection with Jodi as being personally involved in the case because everyone she had contact with was scrutinized thoroughly by the police. I'd read that Jodi was concerned about having a stalker but I'm tending to discount that person as being specifically involved because the police didn't find enough evidence to identify who she thought it was. Although there are always exceptions, stalkers generally don't turn to violence as their first contact with their victim; they seek out contact and then, for a variety of reasons, turn to violence. Even Mark David Chapman (killer of John Lennon) had contact with Lennon before he killed him; he got John Lennon's autograph earlier in the day. That is why I've been wondering if any of the other young women who lived in that apartment complex felt they were being stalked. Sort of a really twisted mistaken identity scenario. If it were a serial killer, that person may have been imprisoned after he abducted and killed Jodi. Not all serial killers talk when caught; he may have been caught for a different murder, been imprisoned... and be eligible for parole in the medium term future. Say he was arrested in 1996 and convicted of sexual assault or of second degree homicide. That would probably make him eligible for parole anywhere from last year forward, depending on how much the authorities in his jurisdiction learned about him and what his past record was. If he didn't have a record, if his victim wasn't killed... well, he's probably walking the streets right now. In recent years, there's been several serial killers who went for long periods (5+ years) between murders. So much of what used to be thought true of serial killers is gradually being shown to be wrong or mistaken. For instance, it used to be thought that serial killers hunter within their own race. Better understanding now is that US society has undergone a dramatic change in the last 40 years. In many parts of the country, it's common to see people of different races in the same areas and interacting with each other. Turns out the only reason serial killers used to stick to their own race was that they would have been noticed and remembered had they been seen with a woman of a different race. When that changed, so did serial killers. The possibility that Jodi was the victim of a professional hit seems more likely to me than the possibility that she was killed by someone she knew. The argument against a professional hit is that the perpetrator(s) left her personal belongings scattered, which was sure evidence that she was the victim of a crime. A professional would have taken the extra 30 seconds to grab her stuff so that the police would not have been motivated to start looking quite so quickly. Another argument in favour of a professional hit is the silence around Jodi's death. I know a couple whose child was killed by a professional, arranged by the child's ex-spouse (in an attempt to get the life insurance). The ex-spouse was suspected from the very beginning and did some indiscreet talking, which got them charged, tried and convicted. But even though the ex-spouse was far from discreet (if they hadn't run their mouth, they wouldn't have been caught) the gunman has never been found. Police have absolutely no idea who he was. The one thing that has kept the ex-spouse's mouth shut for many years now is the sure knowledge that if they name the gunman, they won't live more than maybe a week, even though they are in prison. So if Jodi were the victim of a professional hit, I think that anyone who might have an idea as to who arranged it is probably staying silent because they want to keep on breathing. I strongly suspect John Van Sice is a dead end, in and of himself. He's been scrutinized too closely and nothing found. I think he probably hoped that if he courted Jodi long enough under guise of just wanting to be friends, she might get interested. Here's another conjecture for you: was there anyone who might have been jealous of John Van Sice's attraction to Jodi? So far as I can recall, the John Van Sice's connection with the drug trade was never proven and he was never charged with anything. Do you know if anyone has looked around a bit to see if someone else may have benefitted from Jodi's death? Another conjecture: Jodi would probably not have felt at all threatened if approached by a woman in her parking lot, even at 4:30 in the morning. If a woman were to be asking for directions, Jodi sounds like the sort of person to try to help, even though she was in a great hurry herself. I can easily imagine a woman approaching Jodi, asking for directions and Jodi starting to give directions, then casually turning away from the woman to put the key in the door of her Miata so she could stash the stuff she was carrying on the passenger seat. And maybe even so she could grab a pen and piece of paper or a map to help her show the strange woman where to go. Jodi was athletic but on the small side, as I recall. There was blood and drag marks, indicating that whoever did this wasn't strong enough to lift Jodi. That could include a lot of women as well as a lot of men. |
Muskgrove
Dec 1st, 2007 - 11:00 AM |
Re: Newcomer with new theory
Grainne, Here is what was heard by ear witnesses that dispell some of your statements. Consider these and rethink your conclusions. You might be able to help with your analytical thinking. Neighbors heard a loud confortation like Jodi knew the person which turned into Jodi screaming. Then a thump up against the car which police think might have been when her head hit the side mirror leaving her hair and blood on it. Then she was dragged to the vehiele, which peeled out of the parking area. Drove north and then turned. The engine had a distinct sound which could be heard for quite a while. They may have had her purse and brief case in one hand and Jodi under their other arm as they drug her to the van. Witnesses said within a week before her abduction there had been a white van in the parking lot in the same place as possibly the one that abducted her. It didn't have any windows on the back drivers side, but did have windows in the back on the passenger side. There were 2 men in it. One black and one white. A neighbor spotted them and was afraid to get out of her car when she saw them because a fear came over her. The white man covered his face with his fishing type hat and looked away. The black man started to get out of the van and looked at her, but got back into the van when she didn't get out of her car. She sensed danger and left. (remember this happened within a week before Jodi was abducted) Consider this information and let us know of any thoughts you might have. You can also, email me............... |
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An Cat
Dec 1st, 2007 - 12:14 PM |
Re: Newcomer with new theory
Grainne, Of all the people that have posted to this message board you are by far the most profound thinker yet. Rather than share Jodi's case with the rest of the world contact me at: backstay27@yahoo.com . Some days I think that the same people that did JFK also did Jodi but why ? She hadn't even been born when they murdered Marlin Monroe in 1962. Grace O'Malley she had her hands full dealing with Elizabeth the First's fleet. In 1588 Eliz and a couple of her boyfriends did a number on the Spanish Armada that changed the history of the world like nothing since the micro chip. Eliz knew how to motivate people and so does Ms Huisentruit (note present tense). El Gato (same as before but in Italian) |
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Grainne Dhu
Dec 2nd, 2007 - 10:36 AM |
Re: Newcomer with new theory
Muskgrove, I tend to be a bit wary of eyewitness statements because they are the least reliable form of evidence and the most likely to be misremembered. You said that neighbors heard a loud confrontation, as though Jodi knew the person, and then it turned into a thump. How long after Jodi disappeared did these reports come in? Did the people who said they heard a loud thump have a chance to see her car (complete with blood and hair on it) before the police took their statements? I do *not* think the witnesses were lying. Witnesses not involved in the crime rarely do. But such testimony depends on human memory and there's a lot of research into memory now that indicates that humans don't remember everything. Far from it--humans tend to have a generalized framework memory of familiar places and then they fit new information into that framework. If you think of human memory as being computer memory, it's a way to conserve memory space and it usually works very well. The problem, though, is that human memory starts to change in as little as five minutes. In as little as three hours, even very dramatic events can already be distorted or have important elements forgotten. Most people don't wake up at 4:30 am. That's the very last part of sleep for the majority of people and so if there was a confrontation, first the witnesses would have had to wake up, then realize there was something out of the ordinary happening, then pick up on quite a surprising amount of detail--such as indications that the confrontation involved two people who knew each other. It's possible that there was such a confrontation in the parking lot--the day before, two days before or even more, that didn't involve Jodi or have anything to do with her. The thump could have been added because the witness had a chance to see the crime scene and realized that Jodi must have hit her own car. The same problem is involved in the reports of the vehicle peeling out of the parking area. Did it really happen that particular morning? Or did it happen on some prior date? I usually visit Mason City once or twice a year due to business in the area. It's a nice little town. One thing that I've noticed is that there's not much speeding compared to the larger town I grew up in. I'd think people would remember a speeder. If this were a professional hit, the perpetrator(s) would have taken care not to drive fast or in any way call attention to themselves. A white man and a black man in a van together would certainly be very noticeable in Mason City. It's in Iowa, which is mostly white, and there are very few black people living in Mason City (which has a population around 30,000 as I recall). But again, the Beltway Sniper case proved that there are an incredible number of white vans on the road. They're cheap, they are useful in a whole variety of businesses and if you keep changing the oil they run forever. I should know, I have such a van--but I had it painted silver and blue so it wouldn't look so commercial! Not to paint everyone in Mason City as racist but in places where there are very few people who look different, such people are often perceived as threatening, particularly if they are male. So I think the odds are even, at best, as to whether the report of two men in a white van really has anything to do with Jodi's disappearance. When something this horrifying happens, people tend to try to make it make sense for their own sense of comfort and wellbeing. There's a tendency for people to start to string together anything that might be unusual. In one sense, that's excellent because at least some of what they remember may have a bearing on the case. But in another way, it's the reason why so much detection work leads to blind alleys--most of what is remembered as odd has absolutely nothing to do with the case. I do have one more thought about the white van. What sort of lighting was in that parking lot at the time? I know that my silver over dark blue van looks white over black in certain parking lots at night. Depending on the lighting, a van that looked white could actually be silver, light tan, light gold, beige, light blue, etc. |
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einen katza
Dec 2nd, 2007 - 6:44 PM |
Re: Newcomer with new theory
Grainne, This white van had nothing to do with this. Just a couple of guys dealing dugs and that from an anonymous source. If you really want to know what happened contact me at backstay27@ysahoo.com einen katza (German this time) |
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