Jodi Huisentruit-Missing 17 Years

Jodi Huisentruit was abducted on June 27, 1995.

IT WAS 4:00 in the morning on June 27, 1995 when 27 year-old Jodi Huisentruit was due to arrive at work. Jodi was a news anchor at KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa. Jodi usually left for work at 3:00 AM, but this morning she had overslept. Jodi's producer called her at 4:00 AM to inquire her whereabouts. Jodi answered the phone and said she would be right into work. The producer stated Jodi sounded okay, and everything seemed normal. The clock struck 5:00 AM and producer Amy Kuns called Jodi. Her call went unanswered. Jodi never arrived at work, and Amy Kuns had to fill in for Jodi, delivering Mason City's morning news.
At 7:00 AM, Jodi's coworkers became worried about her, and summoned police to do a welfare check at her residence in the Key West Apartments in Mason City. What they found in the Key West Apartments parking lot only confirmed the concerns of Jodi's coworkers. Jodi's personal belongings were scattered near her red Mazda Miata. This included a pair of red dress shoes, a hair dryer, a bottle of hair spray and earrings. Jodi's car key was bent in the lock of her car. There was also drag marks on the pavement. Police believe Jodi was abducted from the Key West Apartments while trying to unlock her car. Authorities also located blood evidence at the scene, indicating that Jodi was fighting for her life.
One of Jodi's coworkers assisted investigators in searching Jodi's apartment. Everything looked normal, and there was no sign of a struggle.

Jodi was a news anchor for KIMT-TV.

A witness driving to work around 4:30 AM noticed a light colored van sitting in the Key West Apartments parking lot. It caught his attention because its lights were on. He figured it might have been a policeman because it was parked there during the odd morning hours. The van he claimed to have seen that morning has never been located. Police continue to look for a white mid-80s Ford Econoline van.
Witnesses near the apartments reported hearing screams coming from the parking lot shortly after 4:00 AM. Jodi has not been seen or heard from since the early, rainy morning on June 27, 1995. She was declared legally deceased in May 2001.
At the time of her disappearance, Jodi had blonde hair and brown eyes. She is 5'3"-5'4" tall and weighs110-120 pounds. Her ears are pierced. She was born on June 5th, 1968. She grew up in Long Prairie, MN, and excelled in sports, especially golf. She attended Saint Cloud University, and got her Bachelor's Degree in TV Broadcasting and Speech Communication, in which she double majored in. Jodi worked at Northwest Airlines after she graduated, and had a few broadcasting positions before she landed her spot on KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa. Jodi's Hope Fund has been established in her honor in Long Prairie, Minnesota to help children develop their writing and speaking skills.
Now, with many missing person cases, there isn't much of a "crime scene" to work with. Usually, you have to guess where they vanished from, and then question if they were abducted, left willingly, got injured or lost, etc. Jodi's disappearance is unique in the fact that it seems like a "perfect abduction". She was taken from the parking lot, in the early morning hours, on an eery, rainy morning, just as she was about to enter her car. the drag marks in the pavement and blood evidence also point to the fact that she was abducted- taken against her will. She left that scene injured, fighting for her life. I do believe that the witness sighting of the van, and of the screams are accurate. I believe she did everything she could to get free from whomever took her.
With Jodi's case, there are countless rumors, from her working in Reno, Nevada to her being buried out in a cornfield. I have followed Jodi's case for a bit, so instead of trying to debunk them all, I will go with the facts and generate a theory of my own from them.
First, I have often wondered if there were one or more abductors that acted in on this. With Jodi fighting like she was, how would the unknown person have subdued her in the vehicle, while they drove? Did he knock her out with some sort of substance? Restrain her with rope or any other object? If they had just thrown her in the vehicle, we can almost be certain Jodi would have done anything to get free, even if someone was threatening her with a gun, knife, etc. Now, if there was more than one person, it would make sense how they could have controlled her, while the other drove.
It also does not seem to me that Jodi knew her assailant. If someone that personally knew her wanted to abduct her and take her away so bad, I think they would have wider options. They wouldn't have had to sneak up on her in the parking lot past four in the morning. Jodi's fight with the assailant in the parking lot also makes me believe she did not know, or trust this person.
Now, we also know that whomever took Jodi knew her daily routine. They knew where she lived, where she worked, what car she drove, what time she left for work, etc. I have always believed that Jodi was taken by an admirer who got too close. Someone who watched her on TV every morning, and who took their fantasies much too far. I also think with Jodi being a local celebrity, this person was local, making it easy for them to slowly go from watching Jodi on TV, to perhaps watching her go about her life. This person(s) seems like an organized criminal. I do believe they had everything planned out for that morning. They were even willing to wait a bit longer than usual since Jodi overslept, just because this person(s) was so set on their fantasy. And wherever Jodi is now, is most likely somewhere that is easy access, or meaningful to who took her, especially if this person had been fantasizing about Jodi for awhile.

Jennifer Servo was a news reporter, found strangled in her apartment.

There are actually many news anchors who have been stalked, written letters by obsessed viewers, or even received threats in  phone calls. Sometimes, as in Jodi's case, they end up worse, such as Jennifer Servo, a young news reporter in Texas found strangled in her apartment. Her case is also unsolved.
I can't believe seventeen years has gone by already. I remember watching Jodi's mother on TV, and praying that she could at least lay her daughter to rest. Jodi is local to me, so this is one case that is always at the back of my mind. She had so much ahead of her, Jodi really would have gone far.
Author Beth Bednar has published a book, Dead Air, about Jodi's disappearance.If you are interested in her case, or have been following it, then this is a must read. There is also a play, Fade to Black, that takes up the mystery of Jodi's disappearance. Information about that, along with tickets, is posted below. Please keep Jodi and her loved ones in your prayers.

Jodi's case remains open and unsolved.

If you have ANY information, big or small, about the disappearance and whereabouts of Jodi Sue Huisentruit, please contact:

Mason City Police Dept

641-421-3636

or

E-Mail the Iowa Missing Persons Clearinghouse

mpicinfo@dps.state.ia.us

Sources:

Jodi's Official Search Site & Fade to Black Tickets:

http://www.findjodi.com/fade-to-black-tickets/

Doe Network

http://doenetwork.org/cases/1326dfia.html

The Charley Project:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/huisentruit_jodi.html