About Jody
Jody is an author and cold case journalist based in southwest Iowa. She began writing at age eight, both penning and illustrating her dog-napping short story, “The Mystery of Kalo’s Disappearance.”
She went on to work as a correspondent for The Sioux City Journal and a staff writer for the arts and entertainment newsweekly, Weekender.
She launched the Iowa Cold Cases website in 2005 after working on a Sioux City cold case series for the Weekender. A website that began as a handful of case summaries from the Siouxland area now has expanded to include more than 700 cases from all across the state. Iowa Cold Cases incorporated as a nonprofit agency in April 2010.
Two years after launching the cold case website, Jody’s stepfather of 25 years — Earl Thelander of Onawa, IA — died from burns sustained in a house explosion caused by copper thieves. Jody added her stepdad’s name to the ICC site in 2008 after officials announced his case had gone cold. It remains unsolved today.
Jody is the author of One Way: Bumps and Detours on the Road to Adulthood, a collection of humorous and inspirational essays about childhood and growing up, and when not researching or writing about cold cases, is working on revisions for other completed writing projects. Her work with Iowa Cold Cases is featured in Silvia Pettem’s 2017 book, The Long Term Missing: Hope and Help for Families.
Jody graduated magna cum laude from Iowa State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies (Communications and Social Science) and Criminal Justice Studies. In early 2015, she partnered with the Iowa Newspaper Association (INA) in a year-long “Gone Cold: Exploring Iowa’s Unsolved Murders” series, and in September 2015 was named a “Friend of Iowa Newspapers,” an honor conferred by INA board members to those who’ve made significant contributions to the newspaper industry in Iowa.
In November 2015, international grand reporter Karen Lajon of Paris profiled Jody’s work in a special “Women of the World” series featuring five women from around the globe who chose unconventional career fields and succeeded by inspiring others to get involved and make a difference.
In March 2017, Siouxland News presented Jody with a Jefferson Award Foundation medal, an award given in recognition of outstanding public service. That same month, Jody received her private investigator’s license, and as much as she enjoyed the work, chose not to renew it in 2019 due to complications from breast cancer surgery that left her unable to accept most assignments due to additional surgeries and recovery periods.
Jody has three grown children, and loves taking walks with her rescue dog, Jack.