MASON CITY, Iowa – On the 20-year anniversary of her disappearance, dozens of loved ones and strangers gathered to remember Jodi Huisentruit, walking from her former Mason City apartment to the TV station where worked, to symbolize the journey she never completed.
Huisentruit, a native of Long Prairie, Minnesota, overslept on the morning of June 27, 1995. She told a co-worker at KIMT-TV in Mason City who called to check on her that she'd be there in time to anchor her 6 a.m. newscast. Nobody has heard from her since. She's been declared legally dead.
The "Walk for Jodi: Finishing the Journey" walk, held the morning of Saturday, June 27, 2015, was organized by the team behind FindJodi.com, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding leads and keeping Huisentruit's case alive.
Rose Tobin, Huisentruit's former landlord, led the group of more than 50 people down city streets, carrying heartache every step of the way.
"I was
Tobin said she heard a squeal of tires the morning Huisentruit was abducted and saw a mysterious car peeling out of the parking lot.
"We have not forgotten, and hope and pray somebody will say one little word, somewhere in this country, that will lead them to the person to abducted her," said Tobin.
Not far behind her, several of Jodi's cousins also walked to honor the woman who was the light of their family.
"She was a bright spot to so many people," said Maureen Seliski, her first cousin. "It's
Many of Huisentruit's college friends and roommates, who she studied abroad in England with, participated as well. They described her as a "people magnet" drawing in friends and conversations everywhere she went.
"We are just hoping this anniversary brings up more conversations and the truth comes out, it's painful knowing it's been 20 years," said Katie
The group walked over a mile to KIMT-TV, where a stone is engraved with Huisentruit's name. A single bouquet of yellow flowers adorned her spot.
"The color yellow for her, I always thought was appropriate, got her some yellow flowers here today," said Doug Merbach, Huisentruit's former KIMT-TV news director who hired her. "She glowed."
Merbach said the anniversary always brings back trauma for many fellow employees, and the walk brought back deep emotion for him. He still works just a few blocks from the station and says what surprises him most is what little information 20 years has unearthed.
"Little bits and piece that might help add to the story or might help recover something, but really nothing solid to go on that police and investigators can really go after someone, or see something they hadn't seen before," saidMerbach. "I thought the folks from FindJodi are doing more than anyone else is doing. It's so little we can do, but it's a lot."
A tree planted next to Huisentruit's memorial after her disappearance has now grown tall, but even stronger is a force committed to finding her.
Huisentruit's family mourned in private on the 20-year
"Twenty years ago today, we lost a bright shining light in our family, Jodi brought us so much joy and happiness in the 27 years she was with us, she would have been amazed and appreciative of the love and support you have shown for her. We miss her every day, and we continue to pray for answers. We would have loved to have been there with you all today, but we made arrangements to spend this anniversary privately, as a family before plans for this walk were made. We are with you there in spirit though and we thank you for giving up some of your time to remember someone who was so dear to us."
Donations are accepted to St. Cloud State University's Jodi Huisentruit scholarship to those pursuing a career in communications and journalism, or at FindJodi.com, to help dig up more leads in the case.
