A news anchor who disappeared in 1995 is still very much on the mind of an author and former TV reporter who is now promoting her book about the case- Dead Air: The Disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit. KIMT morning anchor Jodi Huisentruit disappeared in the early morning and ever since her case has gained national attention... every couple of years supposed leads come forward bringing her case back into the spotlight.
Police never convicted anyone in her disappearance but this author believes there are still many leads to be followed up on. Many people in the Midwest have followed the disappearance of TV anchor Jodi Huisentruit since 1995.
"I remember hearing about the case. I followed a lot of the media as well, and her sister actually lived next door to my grandmother."
For former KAAL TV personality Beth Bednar... who had worked just an hour north of Huisentruit, it was more than just a news story.
Beth Bednar says, "It was a kick in the gut to me when Jodi disappeared because no one knew at that time if it was Jodi that someone was after or if it was television anchors in general."
Bednar had just gotten out of the TV business when Jodi disappeared.
It was early one July morning in Mason City, Iowa that Jodi Huisentruit never showed up for work. Her co-workers called the police and what they found was signs of a struggle... her car keys left in the parking lot along with a single shoe. Police followed up on numerous leads and have repeatedly for years, but Bednar believes there's still more to be uncovered.
"I think someone knows something, I think perhaps more than one knows a lot more than they are telling," Beth said, "there are certain things that I wrote about in the book that the police never investigated adequately."
She interviewed a woman who claimed she was in the vicinity at the time when Huinsentruit went missing and claimed to have relevant information to the case. Bednar says that supposed information was never followed up on by police.
Bednar says, "it was a curious amount of secrecy in Mason City when I was talking to people about her disappearance, it is still very hush hush."
She hopes information in this book will shed light on the case and play a role in reopening it.
"I think that there are leads that were never adequately followed up on over the years and I do think that this case should be re-opened."
While Huisentruit's body has never been found, she was declared legally dead in 2001.
It's just one of many questions in this case that goes unanswered. There have been several persons of interest who have been investigated over the years including one particular one who eventually left Iowa and then came back. Police never found enough evidence against any them to consider them suspects.
The last time the Huisentruit case was in the news was earlier this year when a police officer from the Mason City Police Department claimed she was fired for looking into the case.
