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29 years later, pleas to solve Jodi Huisentruit’s abduction
‘Don’t make Jodi’s family wait another year for answers’
MASON CITY — It has been 29 years since Jodi Huisentruit went missing from the parking lot of her apartment complex on her way to work at a Mason City television station.
On the somber anniversary last week of her disappearance, her family, colleagues and advocates made a plea: Don’t forget Jodi.
To honor her, a gathering was held June 27 at the KIMT-TV station where Huisentruit, 27, worked as a news reporter and morning and noon anchor. Speakers from the FindJodi nonprofit and a message from Huisentruit’s family marked the milestone of her abduction, which police believe happened about 4:30 a.m. June 27, 1995, in the parking lot of her apartment complex.
“None of us have ever met Jodi; she was part of our extended family,” said Caroline Lowe from FindJodi Inc., an organization staffed by journalists and a former law enforcement investigator volunteering their time and resources to bring attention to Huisentruit's case. “That’s why you’ll see billboards in towns, why we organize this gathering each year — we know that anniversaries are significant. Obviously, for the family it’s a painful, horrible reminder of what’s missing and what they’ve been through, but we know the date is also important to the person who committed the crime.”
Lowe, who covered crime at WCCO-TV in Minneapolis for 34 years, said she hopes the presence of people, conversation and the search for answers around Huisentruit's disappearance will put pressure on the person who abducted her. Lowe pushed for anyone with information on the disappearance to talk to law enforcement and — possibly — give authorities the missing piece of the investigation.
“Don’t sit on that information, even if it’s just a hunch, come forward, let them figure it out,” Lowe said. “There may be something that’s already in their files that fits or they can figure it out. …
“Don’t make Jodi’s family wait another year for answers. And that’s what they begged last year, and here we are again. And I hope someday soon, the next year, that we go from ‘FindJodi’ to ‘FoundJodi,’ that it’s over, that Jodi’s back in Long Prairie, Minn., with her family.”
In the years after her disappearance, investigators followed up on thousands of tips and interviewed more than 1,000 people. Although names of several people of interest emerged, no arrests have been made. Huisentruit was legally declared dead in May 2001.
Before taking the Mason City job, Huisentruit was an Iowa City bureau reporter for Cedar Rapids station KGAN-TV.
Huisentruit’s family wrote a statement for the anniversary that was read by former KIMT news director Doug Merbach.
“It is hard to believe that it has now been almost 30 years since we last had a chance to talk with, hug, or share a laugh with our dear sister, aunt, and friend,” the statement said. “None of us could have imagined when this first happened that we would still be here now waiting for answers and for justice to be served in her case.
“The pain and anguish that all who loved Jodi have experienced since this tragedy happened are immeasurable. As a member of the Optimist Club, Jodi would want us to be happy and positive about life. We strive to be upbeat and optimistic like her, but we must admit that it is very hard most days. True peace will only be given to us when Jodi is found and justice is served for her.”
Merbach later spoke with the Globe Gazette and said being at the TV station on the anniversary of Huisentruit’s disappearance brings back bad memories.
“Very dark period for the people of Mason City, people that work at KIMT,” he said. “I think the people who were (in Mason City in 1995) certainly remember today and are affected by it, might pause for a moment to remember. It’s been 29 years, so a lot of people weren’t even born, so to them it’s ancient history but hopefully they do a little research and learn what happened.”
Merbach hired Huisentruit after she applied to work at KIMT and said he’s never let go of the pain he’s felt from her disappearance.
“It’s a terrible thing that we’re still dealing with this 29 years later, especially for her family to have no answers. I can’t imagine what they’re going through,” Merbach said. “As much as it bothers me, multiply that a hundred times for what it does to them every day.”
Merbach said it’s important to keep Huisentruit’s story in the public discourse, with reminders such as a new billboard about the case near the Mason City airport.
“It keeps it front and center. And people might not be familiar with the story, but they’ll look at that and start asking some questions and learn the background of what’s going on,” Merbach said. “And why is it still a big deal 29 years later, and we've got to keep trying while we’re on this earth, there’s no real choice in it. For Jodi’s family, they don’t have a choice.”
The gathering’s main speaker, Patty Wetterling, is a nationally recognized child-safety advocate and educator whose 11-year-old son, Jacob, was kidnapped in 1989 in St. Joseph, Minn.
Jacob’s father, Jerry Wetterling, was a 1967 graduate of Mason City High School. His parents, Erwin “Erv” and Lillian Wetterling, were longtime Mason City residents until their deaths in 1997 and 2008.
Huisentruit interviewed Patty Wetterling twice about the kidnapping of her son. When Huisentruit disappeared, Wetterling was the first person some of Huisentruit’s friends reached out to for advice.
“The person who did this in our case came forward after almost 27 years because these other victims being brave enough to share their story and to dig further into getting answers,” Wetterling said. “So there’s a guy out there and if you’re watching, it’s time to come forward. He’s carried this darkness over all these years and it’s time to come forward and give us answers.”
Wetterling spoke about how hard it was to live with the unknown about her son for years following his disappearance.
“The trust of the world kind of got stolen as well,” Wetterling said. “It gave us peace that nobody could hurt Jacob anymore, that we will see each other again and that this was bigger than all of us. Knowing the answers, no matter how hard they are, I still feel Jacob when I see eagles, when I see rainbows. It gave me permission to be OK with that.”
Wetterling said she was able to get answers about her son nearly three decades after his disappearance because his story never faded — people still longed for answers and came forward with information.
“That’s what anniversary dates are: It’s a chance to revisit and never forget a wonderful, sparkling, bright-eyed young woman who had her whole future in front of her,” Wetterling said.
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