Jodi Sue Huisentruit, Missing, June 1995 IA.
Jodi Sue Huisentruit Classification: Endangered Missing Adult Date of Birth: 2068-06-05 Date Missing: 1995-06-26 From City/State: Mason City, IA Missing From (Country): USA Age at Time of Disappearance: 27 Gender: Female Race: White Height: 63 inches Weight: 120 pounds Hair Color: Blonde Eye Color: Brown Circumstances of Disappearance: Unknown. Jodi Huisentruit had left her residence at approximately 4:00am for her scheduled shift at a local television station where she anchored the morning news. When investigators arrived at her apartment complex they found her red Miata convertible in the parking lot. Personal items were scattered around her vehicle. Witnesses indicate that they heard a scream that morning. Investigators are looking for a white mid 1980s Ford Econoline van. Investigative Agency: Mason City Police Department Phone: (641) 421-3636 http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?A200300386S

Minnesota TV station offers reward in Huisentruit case December 2, 2004 DES MOINES, Iowa A Minnesota television station is offering a new reward in the case of a missing Iowa anchorwoman. K-A-A-L T-V in Austin, Minnesota, has contributed ten-thousand dollars to North Central Iowa Crimestoppers for information leading to a conviction in the disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit (WHO'-zen-troot). She disappeared in June 27, 1995, on her way to work at K-I-M-T T-V in Mason City. Police believe she was abducted early that day as she went to her car in the parking lot of her apartment. Since then, investigators have followed thousands of tips and interviewed more than one-thousand people. http://www.whotv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2639503

Police find nothing new after Huisentruit tip By BOB LINK, Of The Globe Gazette December 14, 2004 9:58 PM CST MASON CITY — A police investigation involving the former home of an acquaintance of missing TV anchorwoman Jodi Huisentruit has fueled speculation about developments in the case. But police said Tuesday they have found no new information. When police investigators checked the basement of 510 Sixth St. S.E. last week, some media outlets started reporting possible breaking news in the Huisentruit case. Lt. Ron Vande Weerd of the Mason City Police Department said Tuesday night the department did go into the house last week, but the check did not provide any new developments. The house was at one time occupied by John Vansice, and had been searched before, Vande Weerd said. Vansice was an acquantance of Huisentruit and is believed to be one of the last people to have seen the KIMT-TV news anchorwoman before she disappeared in 1995. "We were reviewing some information in our files," Vande Weerd told the Globe Gazette. "And as we often do, we went back to make sure we didn't miss anything." Vande Weerd said police were recently told that there was an area in the basement where the cement appeared to be of a different age than the rest. "But we didn't find anything that we didn't know before," he said. KAAL-TV of Austin-Albert Lea and KSTP-TV of Minneapolis-St. Paul, both ABC affiliates, reported new developments in the case. The television and Internet reports said police plan to return to examine concrete and "may dig up concrete in the home." One television report said the owner said police may return to her home to drill holes to let cadaver dogs sniff it out. Vande Weerd stopped short of saying police would never go back to the home, but he said there is no immediate plan to return or to drill holes. Lt. Rich Jensen said the Mason City Police Department received several calls on Tuesday when the television stations aired the reports. "We had one call from an ABC station in Chicago," Jensen said. "At one point we received a call from a neighbor who was concerned about media trucks in front of the house." Jensen said officers responded to the neighborhood but there was no trouble. Vansice, a seed corn salesman, threw a birthday party for Huisentruit just days before her disappearance. He videotaped the party, and says Huisentruit was at his house the night before her disappearance, watching that tape. The home has changed hands since Huisentruit's disappearance and the current owners are not linked to the investigation. In 1995, shortly after Huisentruit disappeared, Vansice said he took a polygraph test at the request of the police. In a Globe Gazette story published July 2, 1995, Vansice said the polygraph proved he had nothing to do with Huisentruit's disappearance. Vande Weerd said the police department will continue to review the case and follow any developments. http://www.globegazette.com/articles/2004/12/14/latest_news/doc41bfb651b6fbd940980465.txt

Vanished: Jody Huisentruit June 23, 2005 Monday marks a painful ten year anniversary for one of Iowa's biggest mysteries. Television personality Jodi Huisentruit vanished June 27th, 1995. Police believe she was abducted from outside her mason city apartment, but can't prove what happened to her or who did it. Jodi's disappearance and her life made lasting impressions on eastern Iowans who knew her. Before she moved to Mason City, Jodi Huisentruit developed her reporting skills at KGAN-TV in Cedar Rapids. Former Farm Director Wade Wagner helped Jodi move to Minnesota when she left KGAN to be closer to home. It wasn't long before she moved back to Iowa to KIMT-TV in Mason City. Wagner says he remembers a conversation with Jodi just days before her disappearance. "She had called me the week I lost my wife and talked to me and gave me sympathy and then this happens." Jodi Huisentruit was reported missing after she didn't show up for work on June 27th in 1995. Mason City Police found personal items, including keys, on the ground where her car was parked. Wagner lost both his wife and friend Jodi in the same month. June is a tough time of the year for him. "I just feel so bad for her family...because they were so proud of Jodi and what she accomplished and where she was going in a career." Amy Johnson Boyle also worked with Jodi at KGAN. She says Jodi was a "Small town girl, working at an Iowa Television station, not an enemy, sweet, kind, outgoing. This is not the kind of person you'd imagine this happening to." Amy anchored the news at KGAN when Jodi vanished. Both women have blonde hair and are from Minnesota. She started being more cautious when Jodi disappeared. "The parallels absolutely scared me to death. I immediately feared my safety. I started to look over my shoulder." Ten years later, Wagner and Johnson Boyle are both looking for closure. Johnson Boyle says, "There were lots of theories of who might of done it. And the bottom line is to this day it's all a mystery." They both say their hearts go out to the family as this mystery remains unsolved. A judge declared Jodi Huisentruit legally dead in 2001. Even so, family and friends cling to a sliver of hope that she's still alive, somewhere. http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=3514515&nav=2IfubOU6

New Lead in Case of Missing Mason City Anchor Woman Updated: 05-07-2006 Kyle Bosch (KAAL) -- The weekend after Jodi Huisentruit disappeared, a local man was convinced he saw something at a lake near Mason City. It’s haunted him for almost 11 years. Now he's one step closer to finding out if his worst fear could is true. "I really truly believe she's right there somewhere," said Duane Arnold. Jodi disappeared on a Tuesday. Arnold said just days later he noticed a grave shaped digging near his cabin on Eagle Lake. "I gotta know, I gotta know,” said Arnold. “It's just eating me up, lost a lot of sleep. You can't get it out of your mind." Now Arnold is hoping science can help him rest easy by solving the mystery of what happened to Jodi. Arnold hired an engineering firm to survey Eagle Lake with ground penetrating radar in April. He paid $2000 dollars out of his own pocket to pay for the search. "It's worth every penny I had to spend on it," said Arnold. After helping map out the area, all Arnold can do is watch, wait and hope. Slowly, but surely, the survey moves forward with pulses of electricity giving a view inside the earth. The results started coming in. Right where arnold said it would be, a target appears on the screen. "The reading on the penetrating radar was right in the general area as I remember it from 10 1/2 years ago,” said Arnold According to the experts, that area has the right look. Jared Lampe with National GPR Services said "because it has the shape and boundary characteristics of a burial." Digging is the only way to know for sure what's really under the ground. With hand tools out of the question, Duane Arnold needs more help to get the answer he's looking for. "It's up to the Hancock County Sheriff now, they got a back hoe, I can't do it by hand," said Arnold. Hancock County Sheriff Scott Dodd said he's analyzing the new information and will make a decision on digging up the area in the next few days. Investigators from the Mason City Police Department who work on the Huisentruit case say portions of the Eagle Lake site were already dug up a few years ago looking for the grave. Arnold believes they missed this spot and need to find out what is in the ground. http://kaaltv.com/article/view/99756/

May 8, 2006 Possible New Developments In Jodi Huisentruit Case We're tracking new developments in the search for missing Iowa news anchor Jodi Huisentruit. The Mason City woman was abducted on her way to work in 1995. Her body's never been found. Possible new developments in the case are happening near Eagle Lake in Hancock County, about 30 miles away from Mason City. The marshy area known for its duck hunting cabins has been searched before, with no success. Now, a cabin owner named Duane Arnold wants the Sheriff's Department to search again. He had a company use ground-penetrating radar to search the area in April, and says the radar turned up something consistent with a burial site. The Sheriff's Department has not yet decided whether to dig up the site. Stay with KWWL for continuing coverage. http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=4876058&nav=menu82_2

New Break in Search for Missing Anchor? Iowa Farmer Believes Woman Missing Almost 11 Years Is Buried on His Land May 9, 2006 — Investigators hope an Iowa man's suspicions will lead to a break in the case of a television anchorwoman who disappeared almost 11 years ago. Police have wondered what happened to Jodi Huisentruit, who worked for CBS affiliate KIMT in Mason City, Iowa, since she did not show up for work on June 27, 1995. They have pursued several leads, but a breakthrough in the investigation has been elusive. They hope an Iowa farmer will be able to give them new clues in the search. Duane Arnold owns a cabin near Eagle Lake, Iowa, and 10 years ago, he said, he reported seeing what he believed was a grave near his cabin. Investigators found nothing, but Arnold remained convinced they had dug in the wrong area. "I really, truly believe she's right there somewhere," Arnold said. "I gotta know. I gotta know. It's just eating me up, lost a lot of sleep. You can't get it out of your mind." $2,000 Out of His Own Pocket In April, Arnold paid an engineering firm $2,000 to survey the land around his cabin to see whether the earth had been disturbed around the time of Huisentruit's disappearance. Using radar, the firm said that it had found something that could be a body. Jared Lampe, spokesman for National Ground Penetrating Radar Services Inc., said the area looked like a grave site. "It has the shape and boundary characteristics of a burial," he told ABC News' Austin, Minn., affiliate KAAL. Arnold hopes local authorities will dig in the area again later this week and put his mind to rest. "It's up to the Hancock County sheriff now. They got a backhoe. I can't do it by hand," he said. New Digging Decision Expected Sheriff Scott Dodd said he was analyzing the new information and would make a decision on digging up the area in the next few days. The search for Huisentruit was one of the largest in Iowa history, with police officers interviewing more than 400 people and tracking down at least 1,300 leads. Reward money in Huisentruit's case offered by KIMT and other contributors went unclaimed and became the core of a scholarship fund at her alma mater, St. Cloud University in Minnesota. Each year a small scholarship in her name is awarded to a journalism student. If you have any information regarding the whereabouts or information regarding the disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit, please call Mason City Police at 641-421-3636, the FBI, or your local law enforcement agency. http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=1940828&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

May 9, 2006 - Hancock County Search For Jodi Huisentruit Turns Up Nothing An Iowa man is convicned Jodi Huisentruit's body is buried near his cabin. Now, almost 11 years since her disappearance, authorities are digging into his theory. The search happened at Eagle Lake in Hancock County, about 30 miles away from Mason City. That's where a man claims Huisentruit's body was buried nearly a decade ago. Duane Arnold spent $2,000 to hire a company to radar the area. And he says it's worth every penny because he can't get the disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit out of his mind. Arnold says the radar found a four foot grave. But on Tuesday afternoon, authorities spent half an hour digging in the area and all they found was a few rocks and a paper cup. Arnold says for almost 11 years, it's been a horrible waiting game. He knows what happened to Jodi Huisentruit. His theory is that she was killed and buried near Eagle Lake. Arnold claims the weekend after she disappeared back in 1995, he noticed a freshly dug grave near his Eagle Lake cabin. Authorities did dig near the lake a few years ago, but Arnold claimed they missed the right spot. "The back hoe moved forward really slow. I stood right there and watched the back hoe operator and they stopped him, stopped him short of where I told him the grave was and where they had GPS-ed," he says. Arnold says not knowing if they dug in the right area has been haunting him for years. So a couple of weeks ago, he hired a company to radar the area. "I've got to know. I'm 74 years old. I've got to know. It's right, if I haven't stayed on this, it would have died, went away." Authorities wanted all of the questions and concerns to go away, but they came out to the lake to dig for themselves. Scott Dodd is the Hancock County Sheriff and says, "The reason why we dug this of course because if there was someone buried here or there was not someone, we wanted to find out one way or the other and we have done it now and there was no evidence of anything there at all." It's been almost 11 years since Jodi huisentruit disappeared. But Arnold say the thoughts of her are still fresh in his memory. "I had a beer drinking session with her about a year before she disappeared. Boy, can she drink beer...just a perfect person." The Hancock County Dheriff says authorities are finished searching the Ragle Lake area for Jodi Huisentruit. http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=4882350&nav=2Ifu

Posted: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 12:09 AM CDT Search for Jodi Huisentruit: Only rocks, bricks and pieces of wood By BOB LINK, Of The Globe Gazette DUNCAN — Authorities looking for evidence in the Jodi Huisentruit case found rocks, bricks and pieces of wood during a Tuesday afternoon dig near hunting cabins on Eagle Lake in Hancock County. The Mason City Police Department and the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department worked together on the dig after receiving what some saw as a tip in the decade-old case. “It was something we needed to explore,” said Hancock County Sheriff Scott Dodd. “We were very close to this area in 2003. As of right now, it pretty much eliminated any chance of anything being there.” Duane Arnold of Mason City, who has a cabin on Eagle Lake, told authorities he noticed grave-shaped digging on the property northwest of Duncan nearly 11 years ago, days after Huisentruit disappeared. The KIMT-TV morning anchor disappeared shortly after she told a fellow worker she would be in to work in June 1995. Huisentruit has never been found and no arrests have been made. The site, on the banks of Eagle Lake, was investigated in 2003, and nothing was found. Arnold contended investigators missed the spot during their first look at the site. He recently hired an engineering firm, at a cost of $2,000, to survey the property using ground penetrating radar. Engineers confirmed that something was there, but couldn’t say exactly what it was. On Tuesday, three members of the Mason City Police Department, the lead agency in the Huisentruit investigation, and three officers from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department conducted a dig at the site. They dug to and beyond the five-foot mark in the area where radar detected the foreign materials. They used a large blue tarp to collect the soil as they dug it up. The officers separated the rock, bricks, clay tile pieces and wood. Arnold could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. Lt. Ron Vande Weerd of the Mason City Police Department said it appeared that the rock and brick had been dumped there for fill. He said there has intense media interest in the case this week. “I had 19 calls from media in a two-hour period,” he said at the dig site. “So we felt we needed to check this out.” State media from Iowa and Minnesota, where Huisentruit was from, along with national television, followed the story earlier this week. “Investigators did not find any new evidence,” according to Vande Weerd. Reach Bob Link at 421-0538 or bob.link@globegazette.com. http://www.globegazette.com/articles/2006/05/10/local/doc44615cac9465c059471829.txt

Authorities investigate missing-persons cases Officials believe a man from Humboldt drowned while fishing. LISA ROSSI REGISTER STAFF WRITER May 10, 2006 Authorities in two Iowa communities are continuing to investigate separate reports of missing people, even as authorities in the Mason City area decided Tuesday they were unlikely to find a TV anchorwoman who has been missing since 1995. Council Bluffs police said Tuesday they are following leads as they search for Tracy Tribble. The 35-year-old woman was last seen by her husband, Stan Tribble, at 6:30 a.m. on May 3. Police said for the first time Tuesday they are unsure whether marital disputes are related to her disappearance. "We don't believe they are, but we don't know at this point," said Council Bluffs Police Sgt. Ray Mabbitt. In Humboldt, the search for Michael Mulligan, 50, continues even though authorities say they fear he drowned. Tribble and Mulligan are among 317 people missing in Iowa, according to the Iowa Missing Persons Clearinghouse, which is coordinated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. "Our goal is to keep it on the forefront as much as possible," said Iowa Department of Public Safety spokesman Jim Saunders, adding that some people disappear on purpose. "Some are missing because they don't want to be found for a variety of reasons," he said. Humboldt County Sheriff Dean Kruger said authorities discovered Mulligan was missing Saturday morning after a man and his sons noticed an abandoned pickup truck and tackle box near the Des Moines River in Humboldt. Kruger said he believes Mulligan's fishing lure became caught in some fencing. When he tried to climb the fence to retrieve it, he fell in. Another case that has gained local and national attention over the last decade is that of missing Mason City anchorwoman Jodi Huisentruit. Duane Arnold, a Mason City resident, is one of the many people who have maintained an interest in the case over the years. Arnold said he believes Huisentruit, who he met once in a bar, is buried near a hunting cabin he owns near Britt. Police debunked the theory Tuesday, finding only rocks and bricks in the spot Arnold led them to. "I had to have closure," he said. "I couldn't let it go." Where to call If you have a lead on any of these cases, please call the number listed. TRACY TRIBBLE: Call the Council Bluffs Police Department at (712) 328-4764 JODI HUISENTRUIT: Call the Mason City Police Department at (641) 421-3636. MICHAEL MULLIGAN: Call the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office at (515) 332 http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060510/NEWS01/605100363/1001

Media feeding frenzy sweeps Globe Gazette reporter into the fray By JOHN SKIPPER, Of The Globe Gazette It wasn’t just a typical day at the office Tuesday. That morning’s newspaper had my story in which Mason City police downplayed Minnesota television reports of a breakthrough in the Jodi Huisentruit disappearance. A man in Hancock County thought she might be buried near his cabin on Eagle Lake. That was the extent of the story. I got a call at home at about 8 a.m. Tuesday from Fox News in New York, asking if I could go on the air with them to talk about the Huisentruit case. I explained that so far, there was nothing new, just a guy with a theory about a hole in the ground. Also, I said, in North Iowa we’re accustomed to tips in the Huisentruit case. We’re interested in the results — but tips themselves are nothing new. Third, I said, I’m just the messenger. All I do is report what other people say and do. “Can you go on at 9:20?” said the voice on the other end of the line. OK. I did the 9:20 interview and cringed when I was identified twice as being from the “Mason Globe Gazette.” Two hours later, I got another call from Fox. A producer wanted to know if I could do an on-air interview with them. I went through my spiel of all the reasons I didn’t think I’d be a good interview. “And besides, I just did an interview with you people at 9:20,” I said. The producer said, “I know. But we had a cancellation. We wonder if you could do the interview again.” “When?” I said. “In two minutes,” he said. “Just hold on the line.” While I was waiting, he told me there was a lot of interest in the “Julie Huisentruit” case. Next came calls from the “Nancy Grace Show” on CNN and Greta Van Susteren from Fox News (again) seeking live interviews Tuesday night. I turned them down. After all, that’s City Council night in Mason City (I do have my priorities). The Nancy Grace producer offered to send a car to pick me up, take me to the CNN studio in Des Moines, do the interview and drive me back to Mason City. One of the producers — I can’t remember which one — told me her station had compassion for the Jodi story. “News anchor and all that,” she said. My last call came from a producer from “The Abrams Report” with Dan Abrams on MSNBC. That interview was done at about 3:30 Tuesday afternoon. It was at about that time that our reporter Bob Link informed us that police dug up the site Tuesday where the man thought something was buried — and found nothing. That has happened often in this case. My heart goes out to the Huisentruit family for all they’ve had to endure over the years. As for me, I think my phone will be fairly quiet today. Reach John Skipper at 421-0537 or john.skipper@globegazette.com. http://www.globegazette.com/articles/2006/05/10/local/doc44615d840e8c6785678100.txt

Police follow new lead in case of missing anchorwoman MASON CITY, Iowa Investigators confirm they are investigating new information in the case of a missing Mason City television anchor. K-I-M-T-TV morning anchor Jodi Huisentruit vanished in June 1995 shortly after she told a fellow worker she would be in to work. She has not been found and no arrests have been made. Mason City police say a woman who claims to have knowledge of Huisentruit's fate has come forward. Lieutenant Ron Vande Weerd says the woman does not live in Iowa and that she went to her local police. He says Mason City and Iowa state investigators are trying to contact her. http://www.wqad.com/global/story.asp?s=5758720

Police Say Latest Huisentruit Tip Offers Nothing New POSTED: 3:31 pm CST December 5, 2006 UPDATED: 3:32 pm CST December 5, 2006 DES MOINES, Iowa -- The latest tip on a Mason City anchorwoman who has been missing since 1995 is leaving Mason City police in doubt. According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Mason City police Lt. Ron Vande Weerd said nothing new came of the tip on what happened to Jodi Huisentruit. Earlier this week, an unidentified Minnesota woman came forward saying she knew what happened to Huisentruit. The woman said she was 13 at the time and knew the killers. Police continue to investigate. http://www.ketv.com/news/10469754/detail.html

Woman recants story of missing anchorwoman's fate, police say DES MOINES, Iowa A Minnesota woman recants her story that she witnessed the slaying of a missing Mason City television anchor. K-I-M-T-TV morning anchor Jodi Huisentruit vanished in June 1995 and no arrests have been made in her disappearance. Mason City police say the Minnesota woman traveled to Iowa on Friday to tell authorities she was 13 when she saw six men kill Huisentruit. Today, investigators say she recanted the vast majority of the story. The lead is among a long list of failed tips investigated over the last decade by Mason City police, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the F-B-I. http://www.wqad.com/global/story.asp?s=5779845

Tipster to Face Charges Anthony Welsch Mason City, IA (KIMT) Thursday, December 7, 2006 Police knew right away the story Cindy Sweeney brought with her to the Anoka Police Department was juicy. Right away, they say they were skeptical. "Yeah, the claims she made, they were kind of on the spectacular side, for lack of a better word," Lt. Ron Vande Weerd of the Mason City Police Department said. Now, the woman who says she saw six men kill Jodi Huisentruit will be facing charges of her own. Sweeney, the formerly anonymous tipster could see a year in prison if she's convicted of lying to investigators and misleading them in the case. "They confronted her and they wanted some answers. They asked some questions and wanted answers for them," Vande Weerd said. Ultimately, Sweeney cracked and investigators knew it was a bum tip that wouldn't lead to finding Jodi. "I have no idea why she did this. I have no idea," Vande Weerd said. Now the department is seeking charges, after all, that police work doesn't come without a cost. "For us, it wasted man-hours, it wasted time. Some officers had to put other calls on hold, which is very frustrating," he said. For Mason City he says the latest investigation took up about forty man hours of time. That comes out to more than one thousand dollars in tax payer money. That's doesn't take things like overtime costs, gas money, and other expenses they would came across during the past week. But the the money and man-power costs aren't Vande Weerd's chief concern. "I know it upset the family. I talked with them. They were very disappointed with what the media did," Vande Weerd said. Charges against Sweeney could come as early as next week. She'll like face charges for filing a false report, a serious misdemeanor. Cerro Gordo County Attorney Paul Martin says typically, false charges is a simple misdemeanor--- but because of the severity of the crime involved in the latest bum tip--- those charges would get bumped up to serious misdemeanor status. Yet, Vande Weerd doesn't believe the latest bad tip will hurt the investigation as a whole. He says there could be one small shining light to come from all of this. The excitement at least put Jodi back in the public eye. Theoretically, the story could start weighing on the right person's conscience and lead to a legitimate tip that helps Police find Jodi. "We certainly haven't forgotten about Jodi down here and... This gets out in the country maybe it gives them a reminder we're still working on it," Vande Weerd said. They plan to investigate every new lead that comes in. http://www.kimt.com/servlet/Satellite?page...73309&path=