Family and friends of Jodi Huisentruit remember her 25 years later

(ABC 6 News) — It was only a few years that Jodi Huisentruit anchored the morning show for KIMT News 3 before disappearing into the early morning hours before her shift.

She was a young vibrant journalist from Minnesota, who never got the chance to reach her full potential, according to those that loved her. 

“She was very vivacious and effervescent and very bubbly personality,” said Dough Merbach, former News Director for KIMT and for Jodi.

Though little to no information surrounding her case has given Jodi’s family and friends the closure they seek, 25 years later they gathered to remember her.

“She just had this amazing infectious laugh and I just wanted to know who was attached to that,” said Robin Wolfram, who served as the evening anchor of KIMT during the time of Jodi’s disappearance.  

The ceremony brought out many that knew Jodi personally, and some who never knew her at all but have made it their mission to keep her case a live. Members from FindJodi.com, former coworkers, and close family friends stood outside of the Mason City station with flowers, and memories. 

During the memorial, visitors addressed Jodi with hope that her case will be solved, and they even shared final words to their dear friend Jodi Huisentruit.

“Oh I’d tell her how much I love her and how we will just never give up thinking about her and fighting for the resolution and conclusion to her case,” said Wolfram. She said it’s been painful living with this reality, and the 25th Anniversary of Jodi’s disappearance would make one of the first public appearances she’s made since the news broke June 27, 1995. 

“I would tell her that we miss her, that we don’t want her to be a statistic, a name that’s forgotten and we want you to know that we’re not going to give up, we’re not going to forget about you,” said Dennis Higgins, who worked with Jodi a few times and still currently works for KIMT as a technical engineer.

“Jodi I hope you didn’t suffer. I hope you didn’t have any pain. I wish that you could be here today. It would have been great to see where your career went and how far you could have taken your talents. You were robbed of that, but we don’t forget you, we’ll always remember you,” said Merbach.

Members from FindJodi.com encourage the community to come forward if they know anything, or suspect anything. The organization has followed the case for years reviewing theories and tips.

Scott Fuller, from the podcast Find Jodi, said no tip is too small, and any information shared could be the lead officials need to get the ball rolling on a suspect or a conclusion to what happened to Jodi Huisentruit.