KIMT NEWS 3 - Less than one week before KIMT News 3 brought you exclusive information about John Vansice, another prominent person of interest in the Jodi Huisentruit disappearance is speaking out.

Tony Jackson wasn't originally connected to the case when Jodi went missing on her way to work at KIMT's Mason City studio in June of 1995.

But two years later, Jackson was arrested and accused of raping four women in 18 days in the Minneapolis area.

Steve Ridge, a Magid consultant, spoke to Tony at the Minnesota State Penitentiary.

“I looked Tony in the eyes and I said, ‘Tony, am I looking into the eyes of a killer?’” Ridge said. “He said, ‘No, no you aren’t.”

Jackson also denied being involved in Huisentruit’s abduction and said he prays regularly for Huisentruit and her family.

Read more on the decades-long case of Jodi Huisentruit here. 

Jackson and Vansice may not seem connected, but a detective shortly realized Jackson was living in Mason City at the time the former KIMT anchor was abducted.

Jackson, a convicted rapist who is serving a life sentence, lived in Mason City at the time of Huisentruit’s disappearance. He lived just a couple blocks from the KIMT studio.

"He professes that he has absolutely nothing to do with it," Ridge said.

Huisentruit was declared legally dead in May of 2001, and her case has drawn national attention over the years. Her case was featured on “48 Hours” in 2018, and Vansice declined to comment on the case during the show.

After speaking with Ridge and Vansice recently, Ridge says he feels the investigation is on the right track.

“My gut tells me in the next year, there will be a major break in this case," he said.