(ABC 6 News) — 17-years-ago today, TV news anchor Jodi Huisentruit disappeared. Police believe she was abducted while on her way to work in Mason City. She hasn’t been seen since.
It was early on the morning of June 27th, 1995. KIMT television anchor Jodi Huisentruit was late for work. On the phone she assured a co-worker that she was on the way and it set into motion a baffling series of events.
“Time had passed and Jody still had not arrived,” said Mason City Police Department investigator Terrance Prochaska.
It raised concerns in the KIMT newsroom, and when police checked on Jodi’s welfare, the parking lot of her apartment building yielded some alarming clues.
“Several pieces of her clothing, her shoes, her hair dryer. The evidence shows us on scene is that Jody was abducted and it appears she was fighting for her life.” 17 years ago today, Jodi Huisentruit vanished.
“It never lays dormant around here. Jodi Huisentruit is always on our minds,” said Prochaska. He’s now the lead investigator on a case that still generates leads almost daily.
“Most of the leads are simply other people have come up with hey, you might want to check on this.”
“She had invited us to do some self-defense on her morning TV show,” Julie Onoo told ABC 6. Through that contact, she and Jodi Huisentruit became friends.
“She had kind of a feeling that she just needed to learn some self-defense, that she needed to be safer in her own personal life,” Onoo said.
Leading investigators and the community wondering whether Jodi Huisentruit was the victim of a random attack or a stalker
“I can’t answer that question,” said Prochaska.
“She said hello to everybody, she was like a neighbor, very approachable,” Onoo remembered.
“Someone out there has got this little piece of the puzzle that will make the whole thing look a little clearer,” Prochaska said. “We won’t stop until we find Jody, that’s just what our motto is here.”
Anyone with information about Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance is asked to contact the Mason City Police Department.
