30+ Facts and Memories About Jodi Huisentruit on Her 57th Birthday

As Jodi Huisentruit’s loved ones mark her 57th birthday today, we have compiled a list of 30+ facts and cherished memories about the missing Iowa news anchor.

On this day, we celebrate a young woman from a small Minnesota town who had big dreams of someday hosting a network show. Jodi’s upbeat, infectious personality was a magnet for her many friends and captivated viewers in the Mason City news market where she anchored the morning news.

While Jodi is known to many as the victim in a high-profile, unsolved mystery, on her birthday we want to remember and honor her as a journalist, daughter, sister, aunt, friend and colleague who is missed by so many.

Although none of us ever personally knew Jodi, our FindJodi team consider her to be a member of our extended “family” whose promising career was cut violently short on June 27, 1995. Most of our team volunteers are also journalists.

June is always a tough month for Jodi’s loved ones and the many people affected by what happened to her. This June, with a milestone 30th anniversary of her abduction coming on the 27th, it is especially difficult. That’s a key reason why we will also share a lot of memories this month of the 27-year-old woman on our FindJodi, Inc.Facebook page from those who knew her best.

Our “facts” and memories include notes from Jodi and memories from her family and friends. We will continue to update this list.

And if you have any information about Jodi’s case, contact the Mason City Police Department at (641) 421-3636 or email Iowa DCI Special Agent Ryan Herman: rherman@dps.state.ia.us. Or contact us FindJodi, Inc.

Happy Birthday, Jodi.

1. Jodi Sue Huisentruit was born June 5, 1968, in Long Prairie, Minnesota, where she grew up. The small community is located in the central part of the state, about 120 miles from the Twin Cities.
2. Jodi was a “late in life” baby for her parents, Maurice and Imogene {Jane) Huisentruit. Jodi was the youngest of three daughters, 18 years younger than her oldest sister, JoAnn. They shared a middle sister named Jill.
3. Jodi was athletic from an early age, excelling in golf, which she began when she was in third grade.
4. Jodi’s love for golf continued throughout her life. She played on the Long Prairie High School team, which twice won Minnesota state high school golf championships.
5. Beside golf, Jodi played basketball in high school and was co-captain of her team.She also played softball and was a member of the student council.
6. Jodi is fondly remembered by her Long Prairie golf coach, John Stefanich, as a class clown who loved to do pranks. They stayed friends long after Jodi finished school and began her journalism career, often getting together when Jodi visited her hometown.
7. Jodi’s father died of cancer when she was just 13-years-old.
8. Jodi was very close to her mom, whom she considered to be her best friend. Jodi’s pet name for her mom was “Teddy Bear.” They took a cruise together in the fall of 1994. Jane Huisentruit passed away in 2014, not knowing what happened to her youngest daughter.
9. Jodi had blonde hair, brown eyes and was 5’4″ inches tall.
10. Jodi had one steady boyfriend throughout high school and part of college.
11. Jodi attended Moorhead State University for a semester in her freshman year.
12. Jodi transferred to St. Cloud State University, majoring in mass communications, graduating in 1989.
13. Jodi co-anchored the Saint Cloud Daily Show with Joe Vigil, who is now a news anchor/reporter in Las Vegas. Jodi also made a brief on-air appearance on election night 1988 with KARE-11 anchors Paul Magers and Diana Pierce. Jodi and several SCSU classmates were helping out as volunteers, answering calls from viewers.
14. The previous year, Jodi met another high-profile Twin Cities news anchor, Pat Miles. Jodi wrote on a photo taken with Pat at a Madden’s Resort golf tournament that the WCCO-TV news anchor was “my professional idol.” Jodi worked as a server at the event and made it a point to network with the participants, which included many celebrities.
15.  Jodi studied abroad in England for six months during her junior year at SCSU.
16. While still in college, Jodi interviewed Patty Wetterling about her 11-year-old son Jacob’s kidnapping in rural St. Joseph, Minnesota. (Jacob was also born in Long Prairie, Minnesota, and his father, Jerry, grew up in Mason City, Iowa, where Jodi eventually lived while working as a news anchor.)
17. Jodi got her first car while she was in college, a white Honda CRX she named “Precious.” This is one of many examples her friends and family remember about Jodi’s pet names for people and things. Jodi kept the car until she bought a red convertible Mazda Miata, just a few weeks before she disappeared. She also signed cards and notes with various names, including ” Your Jodester.”
18. Jodi’s first job after graduation from college was in 1990 when she worked briefly as a Northwest Airlines flight attendant. She was based in Boston and her travels took her to Japan, Europe and Hawaii.
19. Jodi decided her professional future was “on the air, not in air.” One former NWA flight attendant remembers Jodi saying she had sights on being the next Barbara Walters.
20. Jodi’s first journalism job was at KGAN-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, assigned to the Iowa City bureau. While at KGAN, Jodi reunited with her SCSU co-anchor and friend, Joe Vigil, who also worked in a bureau. Jodi and Joe called themselves the “bureau buddies.”
21. Jodi’s second news job took her back to Minnesota where she was an anchor and reporter at KSAX-TV in Alexandria. Her family was able to watch her on the news there.
22. While at KSAX, Jodi interviewed Patty Wetterling again, this time for a story on her son Jacob’s 15th birthday. When Jodi went missing a few years later, Patty was the first person some of Jodi’s friends reached out to for advice on how to get out the word about Jodi’s disappearance. On the 29th anniversary of Jodi’s abduction last summer, Patty was the main speaker at FindJodi’s event in Mason City to honor Jodi and appeal for information.
23. Jodi’s next stop on her career path that she hoped would eventually lead to a network show anchor job was in Mason City, Iowa. The small northern Iowa city was composer Meredith Wilson’s hometown and inspiration for his musical, “The Music Man.” Jodi was hired to anchor the morning and noon newscasts at KIMT-TV. Jodi also reported on feature and human interest stories while she was at the CBS affiliate.
24. Jodi lived by herself in a second-floor apartment located about five minutes from KIMT-TV in Mason City.
25. Jodi’s  two-year contract was set to expire in November of 1995 and she was actively looking to move on to a bigger television market.
26. In January 1995, Jodi interviewed at KARE-11 in the Twin Cities. She hoped to possibly move back to Minnesota to work in a top-15 news market, in an area where her mom could again watch her deliver the news. A former KARE news director, Janet Mason, recalled talking with Jodi not long before she was abducted, giving her feedback on her audition reel. Sadly, that same video had to be used by KARE to help tell the story of Jodi’s disappearance. According to Jodi’s friends, she was also exploring job opportunities in warmer states, including Florida and Arizona.
27. Jodi saw a lot of the world in the 10 years since she graduated from Long Prairie High School. She lived in England, Boston and Colorado, along with Moorhead and St. Cloud in Minnesota. She also lived in two cities in Iowa, Cedar Rapids and Mason City, while she was working in news.
28. Jodi worked one summer in college as a server at Madden’s Resort in Alexandria, Minnesota.
29. While in Colorado for another summer job,, Jodi worked in a similar position at a resort.
30. Jodi continued to follow her passion for golf throughout her life, often participating in community tournaments and representing KIMT in Mason City. On June 26, 1995, the day before she disappeared, Jodi was part of a 4-person golf team at a Mason City Chamber of Commerce fundraising tournament and dinner. Jodi also loved to water ski, a sport she was learning that spring and summer.
31. Jodi maintained an extensive network of friends, often sending them birthday cards and notes with photos that had detailed information on the back. The friends included her pals from her hometown of Long Prairie, as well as college classmates and colleagues she met while working in three television markets as a reporter and anchor. Many still cherish their notes from Jodi as connections to their missing friend. The notes often featured her pet names for her many friends.
32. Jodi’s last known phone call to a friend was to her college friend Kelly Torguson in Mississippi. Jodi made the long-distance call at 8:24 p.m. the night before she disappeared. Kelly wasn’t home at the time so Jodi chatted with Kelly’s husband, Todd. Todd has said he remembers Jodi sounding fine, nothing out of the ordinary. Jodi and Kelly typically talked every two weeks, often about career plans, guys Jodi was dating , upcoming travel and concerns about Jodi’s mom’s health. Jodi also called Kelly the night in October 1994 when a guy in a truck followed her and she called police. Kelly received a letter the day after Jodi disappeared saying she was takimg self-defense training and told Kelly, “We need to protect ourselves.” That letter prompted investigators to fly Kelly to Mason City to learn more about Jodi and her concerns and to look at her notes and photos from Jodi.
33. Jodi is often described as a very upbeat, friendly person who belonged to the Optimist’s Club and who kept a copy of their creed close by. She was also very big on self-improvement, attending an Anthony Robbins seminar. With her ambition to some day anchor a show on a national level, Jodi worked hard to try to shake her Minnesota accent while reading the news.
34.  Jodi told some friends and family members that she believed someone was stalking her. As mentioned previously, Jodi reported to Mason City police in 1994 that she felt a person in a small, white pickup truck was following her and she took a self-defense class just a couple months before she disappeared. Two of her golf teammates at the June 26, 1995, tournament told FindJodi, Inc. she told them she has been receiving harassing phone calls and planned to change her phone number. Jodi’s home phone number and address were both listed in the local phone directory.
35. Several of Jodi’s friends remember her as someone whose favorite foods included Blimpie sandwiches, especially the “meatless cheese trio”  and TCBY frozen yogurt. Jodi’s Mason City friend Ani Kruse remembers Jodi collecting Blimpie napkins and writing notes on them, which she left in Ani’s work desk.
36. Jodi was on the board of directors at the local chapter of the American Heart Association, where her friend Ani worked. Jodi was honored for her volunteer work with the AHA.
37. Jodi was also known for bargain shopping and buying greeting cards in bulk.
38. Jodi kept a journal where she detailed her activities with friends, her career ambitions and professional frustrations. Her last entry was on the Sunday two days before she disappeared. She wrote about a waterskiing trip with friends to Iowa City.
39. Jodi was looking forward to being a bridesmaid in her childhood friend Staci Wagner’s wedding in Minnesota the next weekend.
40. Jodi’s last name is often mispronounced. The correct pronunciation is “Hoo-zen-troot.”
41. Jodi loved being an aunt and was especially close to her oldest niece, Kristen, who was just 11-years-old when Jodi was abducted. Jodi’s pet name for Kristen was “Triscuit,” after the crackers.  Kristen says she still has Triscuits every Christmas at family gatherings as her family did when she was growing up. She has created a family Facebook page to” share personal photos and stories about Jodi and to clarify erroneous information that has been presented about Jodi and/or the case.”