Minnesota police launch new search after tip may finally help solve cold case of missing TV news anchor

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Nearly 30 years after TV news anchor Jodi Huisentruit vanished in Iowa, a new tip has led investigators to what could be a major break in the cold case.

Investigators conducted a search in the rural Minnesota town of Winsted, just outside the Twin Cities, while following up on the undisclosed tip in the Huisentruit case that came in two weeks ago, Mason City police confirmed to FindJodi, a website dedicated to the Huisentruit case.

Huisentruit was a TV news anchor in Mason City, Iowa, when she vanished in 1995. Few answers have been provided over the last three decades about where she went and what happened to her. The case has since gone cold, but now it might just have gotten a break.

The massive police presence by both Minnesota and Iowa authorities in Winsted at an apartment complex under construction drew attention from the small, tight-knit community.

Police confirmed the new search in connection to the case, but no additional details were released.

“MCPD recently worked with Minnesota law enforcement officials to follow up on a lead in Winsted,” Mason City Police Chief Jeff Brinkley told FindJodi.com.

“MCPD continues to receive, evaluate and follow up on information it receives related to Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance on a regular basis. Information gleaned from this effort will be used in the ongoing investigation.”

Winsted is about a three-hour drive from Mason City and 104 miles from Long Prairie, Minnesota, where Huisentruit grew up, FindJodi.com reported.

Huisentruit was 27 years old when she vanished on the morning of June 27, 1995, from her apartment parking lot in Mason City. She was on her way to anchor the morning news at KIMT-TV at the time.

When Huisentruit failed to show up at work that morning, a co-worker called police for a welfare check and officers responded to her apartment.

Police found evidence of a struggle outside the building, with Huisentruit’s red high heels, blow dryer and earrings “scattered by her car.”

Huisentruit hasn’t been seen or heard from since. Despite years of investigation, the case grew cold and she was declared dead in 2001.

Her sister JoAnn Nathe is hopeful about the new development in her sister’s case.

“They need to follow up on everything,” Nathe told FindJodi. “You never know where they might go.”