Jun 27, 2005 9:33 am US/Central
Jodi Huisentruit, 10 Years Later
by Caroline Lowe
(WCCO)
Ten years ago, Minnesota native and news anchor Jodi Huisentruit was abducted. It's one of the most famous missing person cases in the country, and yet there are still no arrests.
Investigators remain hopeful someone can help solve the case. Right now, it's as much of a mystery as it was a decade ago.
Family members still recall that day in June when Huisentruit, then 27 years old, disappeared.
"There's still that hope that you think, 'Gee ... maybe she is alive somewhere,'" said JoAnne Nathe, Huisentruit's sister. "It would be a miracle."
Huisentruit grew up in Long Prairie, Minn. She loved sports, especially golf.
In 1995, she was the morning anchor at KIMT in Mason City, Iowa.
Mason City Police Sgt. Frank Stearns has been on the case for 10 years. He explained what investigators believe happened outside Huisentruit's apartment in the early morning hours of June 27, 1995.
"We do know she overslept, she was late for work." Stearns said. "She was leaving in a hurry. ... We know she was grabbed from behind as she was putting the key into her car. And we know she was dragged away."
The eerie traces of the missing anchorwoman can be seen in police photos.
Huisentruit's red shoes, a hair dryer and keys were all left scattered in the parking lot.
There were signs of a struggle near her Miata sports car.
"The way the key was bent, she was actually putting the key in the car, which means she was facing the car door, which means somebody had to come up from behind her," Stearns said. "Her personal belongings were scattered, kind of like she was trying to fight the attacker off."
Police searched nearby Winnebago River. They questioned witnesses who said they heard a scream, as well as someone who identified as white van sitting at the edge of the parking lot.
"We have never been able to locate that van," Stearns said. "We have searched Minnesota and Iowa vehicle registration for that year and a couple years on either side of that year and tracked down hundreds of registered owners of those White Ford Econoline vans, and still have not been able to find that van."
There have been several suspects, but most of them were eliminated. Several leads all turned out to be nothing. A decade later, police say they're in the same place they were that first day.
"It's amazing, really," said Mason City Police Chief David Ellingson. "Time has just gone by."
Ellingson hopes time is now on their side.
"Maybe they've known something for a while and feel like it's time," Ellingson said. "They don't realize 10 years have gone by either and feel like it's time, maybe, to mention something, and that's what we're looking for."
"I know how important it is to the family," Stearns said. "I can't do anything to help them right now, and that's the toughest part."
"I'm not going to give up," Nathe said. "Somebody knows something, and they need to come forward."
Police urge anyone who may have any information involving this case to call Crimestoppers at 800-383-0088.
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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