MASON CITY, Iowa — Twenty-seven years ago this month, an up and coming news anchor in north Iowa disappeared.
And there are still no answers about what happened to Jodi Huisentruit.
When Huisentruit didn't show up to work on the morning of June 27, at KIMT in Mason City, her co-worker and producer, Amy Kuns, called and woke her up.
But when she still didn't show, Kuns called her again — except this time there was no answer.
"I always felt bad feeling that Jodi’s story was my story," said Kuns, in an interview from her home in Mason City. "But you can’t deny it."
Over the years, Kuns has rarely talked about Huisentruit and has seldom given on-camera interviews. She was the last person to talk to Huisentruit that day and even filled in for her on the anchor desk, breaking the news from police that she had been abducted.
"I knew something wasn't right when I went on the air," said Kuns. "But honestly, my worst thought was she slipped and fell in the shower. Never did it cross my mind that, oh my God, somebody abducted her."
Huisentruit lived just a mile from the TV station and police say there were signs of a struggle outside her apartment. Officers maintain she was taken, but have never named any suspects and there are still few clues about what really happened in the close-knit town.
"My gut says it was somebody she knew, maybe two people she knew, and I think the person thought, if I can't have her nobody will," said Kuns who added she doesn't think Huisentruit's body will ever be found.
Despite backing away from the spotlight, Kuns still carried a heavy burden.
"It changed who I am. It has shaped who I have become because for many, many years I was just afraid of life," said Kuns.
Years of therapy are helping the now 51-year-old embrace her trauma. She's writing some of it down for a new memoir she's working on. She also plans to speak publicly at an event on June 27.
"I want to tell my story, tell Jodi's story, which is my story," said Kuns. "If I can find a purpose behind all of this and even if I help just one person, mission accomplished."
During the weekend of June 24-26, supporters will also be promoting an online effort to encourage leaving a porch light on for Huisentruit, as was done by Mason City residents in 1995 to express concerns and condolences.
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