Who is Jodi Huisentruit? 28 years on, mysterious case of missing journalist still hurts loved ones
MASON CITY, LOWA: It has been 28 years since journalist Jodi Huisentruit was abducted from her Mason City apartment parking lot but her disappearance still remains a mystery. The 27-year-old anchor at KIMT TV failed to show up for work on June 27, 1995, when a staff member called her to ask about her well-being. Huisentruit told them that she had overslept and would be there as soon as possible.
Despite living only five minutes from the station, Huisentruit failed to make it for her 6 am newscast. Around 7 am, a coworker called the Mason City Police Department to request a welfare check be done on the journalist. Upon their arrival, officials immediately noted that her brand-new red Mazda Miata was still in the parking lot. Huisentruit’s few personal items including a hair dryer, a red pair of shoes, and a bottle of hair spray were found next to her car at her apartment complex. During further investigation, investigators learned that neighbors from Jodi's apartment complex heard a scream sometime around 4.30 am.
‘Some twisted person mentally’
Police believed Huisentruit was abducted by an unidentified suspect as she tried to unlock her red Mazda Miata shortly after 4 am. Despite a thorough police search, the Des Moines Register stated there was no solid evidence six months after her abduction. In 2017, Police carried out a GPS data search order on two vehicles linked to Huisentruit's friend John Vansice, who was residing in Arizona at the time. Vansice is believed to be the last person to see her before she vanished. Tragically, despite the extensive search, Huisentruit was declared legally dead in 2001. In 2005, her mother, Jane Huisentruit, stated that she believed her daughter is at the bottom of a lake near her home.
Her cousin, Mary Lee Moberg, also believed that Huisentruit was abducted by a man, who stalked her. "Nothing adds up. Besides something like a stalker. Some twisted-person mentally,” Moberg said in an interview according to Des Moines Register. Despite witnessing several heart-breaking setbacks, Huisentruit’s loved ones are still working hard to keep her case alive, with the help of a team of journalists and a retired law enforcement investigator at FindJodi, Inc. The nonprofit volunteer group was created in 2003 by two former KAAL TV employees. The organization has done extensive research about the case and talked to many people over the years, hoping to get answers about Jodi’s case and find her.
‘She kept us very optimistic”
“The anniversary of Jodi’s disappearance is tough for the people that knew her and her family. Of course, the whole month of June with her birthday being in June as well,” said Scott Fuller, a team member with findjodi.com. Recently, Fuller and team member Caroline Lowe wrote an email, along with other people who knew Jodi, reminding the public of the anniversary and an event for Jodi that will take place in Mason City on Tuesday. “28 years later our role, I think, is just to remind people that the case is still open and it’s unsolved and someone has some information they need to come forward to police,” said Fuller, according to Fox 5 Vegas.
Meanwhile, Lowe claimed that this year's ceremony is met with a lot of frustration because it means Huisentruit has been gone one year longer than she was alive. "They say she kept us very optimistic. She was ambitious in a good way.” Lowe said, adding “She never forgot her friends' birthday and so many have shared birthday cards, sympathy cards, wedding cards. she had more friends than almost anybody I know. they said she had a great master plan to go up to the twin cities and maybe anchor there. 'make mom proud' was one of her mottos." As the 28th-anniversary approaches, Fuller, Lowe, and other individuals looking for Jodi are hoping that press coverage may shed some light on Jodi's life and the significance she had for those who knew her. “Basically, what we say Joe this week over and over is, if you think you know something, just make sure that somebody knows,” said Fuller.