Jodi Huisentruit Disappears From Parking Lot en Route to 6 AM Newscast

On the morning of June 27, 1995, 27-year-old television news anchor Jodi Huisentruit was running late for her 6 AM newscast at KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa. She called the station at 4:00 AM and told a producer she had overslept. She never arrived. When police checked the station parking lot, they found her red Mazda RX-7 parked with the door open and the engine running. Her red high-heeled shoe, car keys, a can of hairspray, and a blow dryer were scattered on the ground nearby — evidence of a violent struggle. The car's door had been left open mid-exit. Despite the early hour, a witness described hearing a woman scream and tires squealing. A palm print was found on her car that did not match any known suspect. In the decades since, several persons of interest have been investigated, including a man later convicted of an unrelated sex crime who had been obsessed with Jodi. No arrest has ever been made. Jodi Huisentruit has never been found. Mason City named a media award in her honor.