Search for missing news anchor expands after authorities get new tip

A 27-year-old news anchor mysteriously disappeared nearly 30 years ago, gripping the small town in Iowa where she worked, and a recent tip prompted detectives to search a property in Minnesota for her remains. 

Mason City Police Department detectives in Iowa searched a site in Winsted, Minnesota, in October for Jodi Huisentruit, who vanished the morning of June 27, 1995. 

Mason City Police Chief Jeff Brinkley confirmed the purpose of the search in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“MCPD recently worked with Minnesota law enforcement officials to follow up on a lead in Winsted,” he said. “MCPD continues to receive, evaluate and follow up on information it receives related to Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance on a regular basis. Information gleaned from this effort will be used in the ongoing investigation. At this time, there is no additional information for public release. We do want to encourage anyone with information about Jodi’s disappearance to contact MCPD or the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.”

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Huisentruit, a native of Long Prairie, Minnesota, was on her way to work as a morning anchor at KIMT-TV in Mason City when she disappeared. 

“She drove the red convertible, she had her hair flowing and she loved to be in public. She loved to be at, you know, the local establishment,” Sgt. Terrance Prochaska of the Mason City Police Department told Fox News Digital. “People knew Jodi because she was just approachable.” 

On the morning of her disappearance, Huisentruit told a colleague she had overslept and was running late to the office, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. However, she never made it to work that day.

“She was in a hurry … probably wasn’t even looking when she was getting into her car,” Prochaska, who has been investigating Huisentruit’s case for 14 years, said. “I’ve been a police officer for 23 years now. I’ve been around the circle, I guess, of cases. This one is just heartbreaking.

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“It’s sometimes hard to go home at night with, you know, without answers for the family of Jodi Huisentruit, especially her friends that are still actively looking for her that were with her day in, day out before she went missing.”

Huisentruit’s disappearance was ruled an abduction, and her belongings, including a hair dryer, a red pair of shoes and a bottle of hairspray, were found next to her car at her apartment complex, and police found signs of a struggle. A witness also reported seeing a suspicious white van and hearing a scream, Fox 9 reported. 

“The red shoes are significant. It kind of makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck a little bit when you see those shoes … because it’s probably similar to something you’ve worn to work,” Prochaska said. “As far as the evidence left behind … there’s a significant amount of evidence that suggests that she was unconscious and drugged.”

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The promising news anchor was declared legally dead in 2001. 

“The biggest obstacle is we don’t have a body,” Prochaska acknowledged. “If you read about a lot of these cold cases that are being solved here recently, it’s because they have a body.”

“Remember that this happened in 1995 before DNA (evidence) really even existed. Thankfully, the investigators back then, they did things above and beyond. … They set up road blocks the next morning, and they interviewed every car passing by her apartment lot that next morning. They collected evidence out of dumpsters. Thankfully, that has helped us in the case.”

On the 28th anniversary of her disappearance in 2023, Huisentruit’s family posted a statement on Findjodi.com, encouraging anyone with information to come forward and expressing gratitude to the public and law enforcement. 

“We, Jodi’s family, would like to say a big thank you to all of you who have shown up here today and who continue to show interest in Jodi’s case. We know that along with us, you feel the pain and agony over Jodi’s case still being unresolved,” the statement said.

“Jodi had such a bright future ahead of her, and she should be here every day enjoying it. She deserves better, and we continue to pray that someone will come forward with the missing piece that will finally solve this case and give Jodi the justice she deserves.

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Prochaska explained that the latest tip to police was just one of many over the years and said investigators have searched extensively to find her remains. He did not disclose any information about who might be responsible for her disappearance. 

“It’s very difficult to convince the public that we are trying so hard to find her,” he said. “The only thing we need is help from the public, that we hope that someday somebody is going to see something or hear something that’s going to make that one phone call to me or someone else in the community of law enforcement. … And that’s simply what we did in Minnesota recently, is just a person called us and gave us some information that was a little bit at a more concerning level than others.” 

Prochaska did not provide any details about the “concerning” information police received, leading them to the search in Minnesota. 

“That’s how we’re going to find Jodi,” he said. “By not giving up and not just taking people’s calls for granted.”