Jodi Huisentruit
A private memorial service was held Saturday afternoon at the Mason City TV station where Jodi Huisentruit worked 25 years ago.
Investigators believe she was kidnapped from the parking lot of her apartment complex as she left for work early on the morning of June 27th, 1995. Her body has never been found and the case remains unsolved. Kelly Boyle was a friend of Jodi’s who read a prepared statement from the Huisentruit family.
“She frequently made the statement: ‘Oh, I love life,'” Boyle read on the family’s behalf. “We often think of that and it gives us strength to move forward. Jodi loved meeting people. She treated everyone with respect regardless of where they were from and she would always take the time to listen and talk with them.”
Huisentruit’s family is urging anyone who may have information about the case to call law enforcement.
“Even if you think your information seems insignificant, it may be the missing piece we are waiting for and it may help crack the case,” Boyle said on the family’s behalf.
Huisentruit’s family cited the case of a missing college student in Washington state. The young woman’s body was found a few days after she was reported missing, but that case wasn’t solved for 30 years.
“The evil man who abducted her lived just down the road from her mother’s house,” Boyle read. “Two gals from this small town had always been suspicious of him and didn’t get good vibes from him. If only they had pursued their suspicions more aggressively the case could have possibly been solved sooner. Please don’t let us wait 30 years to solve our case.”
Doug Merbach was the news director at KIMT at the time of Jodi’s disappearance. He said there’s never been a time in the last 25 years that he thought the case wouldn’t be solved.
“I think in this day and age we see a lot of people that aren’t getting justice and people that should be held accountable aren’t being held accountable and some of that started with Jodi 25 years ago. She needs justice,” he said. “We still have hope. We still have our prayers. We know organizations like www.findjodi.com are doing so much to keep her story alive and keep her story out there.”
A state DCI agent and a Mason City police officer are still assigned to the case and regularly review leads.
“If you’re familiar with the case, you know there wasn’t a lot of evidence left at the scene on the day Jodi disappeared, and there wasn’t much to work with, and they’ve been fighting that uphill battle ever since,” Merbach said, “but we still have hope, we still have our prayers, and maybe someday Jodi can have justice too.”
Huisentruit was 27 at the time of her disappearance. Her clothes, shoes, and a hairdryer were found dropped in the parking lot outside her apartment. Her red car was left there as well.
(By Bob Fisher, KGLO, Mason City)