A licensed private investigator has increased the reward for information about the disappearance of Mason City television anchor Jodi Huisentruit from $25,000 to $50,000.
Early in the year, Steve Ridge offered a $25,000 reward to anyone who could direct police to Huisentruit’s remains. The price hike became effective on September 1.
Although he has followed the case since she vanished early on June 27, 1995, while en route to her job at KIMT-TV in Mason City, Ridge started actively looking into it in 2019. Despite the fact that the case has been in the news for 28 years, no one has been taken into custody or charged.
He thinks someone is aware of Huisentruit’s fate. Someone who had no involvement but had information they were hesitant to divulge, according to Ridge, could be responsible.
The greater reward is intended to entice someone to come forward, he hopes.
“I am now very certain that several people are aware of what happened to Jodi. Someone might eventually decide to speak,” Ridge stated in a news release. “We want to promote that opportunity.”
Huisentruit’s family released a statement on the findjodi.com website on the 28th anniversary of her disappearance, thanking everyone for their support and urging anyone with information to come forward.
“We never imagined that our family would experience a tragedy like this. Don’t keep us waiting another year for an answer. We kindly request that you SPEAK UP if you have any information. “We would never wish anyone to experience the agony of not knowing Jodi’s whereabouts or what transpired to her. Help us bring Jodi home, please.
Anyone with information should call the Mason City Police Department at 641-421-3636.
What happened to Jodi Huisentruit?
Huisentruit, a 27-year-old native of Long Prairie, Minnesota, skipped her 6 a.m. broadcast by failing to arrive at work.
Huisentruit took a call from a KIMT-TV producer the morning of her disappearance. She claimed to have overslept and that she was on her way to the office. When the producer called again at 5 a.m. and got no answer, coworkers requested that police check on the producer’s welfare at her apartment.
Shortly after 4 a.m., according to police, she was allegedly grabbed as she attempted to unlock her red Mazda Miata. At her apartment complex, a hair dryer, a pair of red shoes, and a bottle of hairspray were discovered next to her car. On the car, the police discovered a palm print and evidence of a struggle.
In 2001, Huisentruit was ruled to be legally de*ad. In a 2005 article, her mother, Jane Huisentruit, stated that she thought her daughter was submerged in a lake close to her house. Mary Lee Moberg, her cousin, thinks she was stalked by a man.
Could a newly discovered relationship be motive?
After leaving Magid, a media consulting company that gave Huisentruit early on-air coaching, and turning into a private investigator, Ridge has been actively looking into the case.
He claimed to have just learned that in the last 10 days of Huisentruit’s life, she had been seeing a man. Ridge repeatedly questioned the man and learned that neither her friends nor family were aware of their relationship.
Ridge stated that although he does not think the man was responsible for her passing, their relationship might point to a possible motive.
As for the relationship and the fact that she was unavailable or, you know, out on dates or whatever, Ridge said, “I do believe that there were admirers who became aware of it.” The only way this person could have been involved, in my opinion, is if they had incited resentment toward Jodi or her schedule.
Ridge claimed that when Huisentruit vanished, police questioned the man. When contacted for comment to confirm the man’s existence or the specifics of his relationship with the victim, Mason City police did not respond.
Ridge remarked, “She had a very bubbly personality. She had some pretty strong admirers because people were just naturally drawn to her.
