Autopsy results have dashed the hopes that the mystery of a missing Mason City anchorwoman has been solved. Speculation ran high that the human remains found Wednesday in a new development on the northeast edge of Mason City were those of Jodi Huisentruit — the Mason City TV anchorwoman who disappeared nine years ago. Cerro Gordo County Sheriff Kevin Pals ended the speculation at a noon-hour news conference, saying the preliminary autopsy results show the remains are those of a Caucasian adult male. The cause of death and the identity of the remains is not known. Pals says there was an intense focus on this investigation, but says they learned the autopsy results just 15 minutes before speaking with the media — and didn’t try to hold anything back.
He says they never jumped to the conclusion that it was Huisentruit. He says they asked the State Medical Examiner to speed up the autopsy process because of all the speculation about Huisentruit.
Pals says it was tough to learn this was not the break they’ve been looking for.
He says it’s the most visual case that’s ever happened in north Iowa and he says they’re very disappointed. Pals says it’s tough to get hopes up for an answer in the case, and then have those hopes dashed. He says “this would’ve been a great conclusion for the family”, which he says would’ve been the only thing positive about knowing it was her. Pals says they have to look into all the other missing person cases now to see if they might match up with the remains.
He says they do have some evidence that was recovered at the scene that they hope will lead them to the identity of the person. Pals says initial reports that a decomposed sweater was found with the remains is not true. Pals says they don’t know if the person died at the site, or if the person was killed and the body dumped.
He says the problem is the rising water levels in the area make it tough to tell. He says that’ll be one of the main objectives of the investigation — to see if the person was put there on purpose.
