New Find Jodi Billboard in Mason City, Investigator gives new case development

(ABC 6 News) -There are claims Wednesday of new information in a Mason City mystery.

It’s the Jodi Huisentruit case, she’s the KIMT News Anchor who disappeared on her way to work back in the late ‘90s.

Also, there’s a new Find Jodi billboard up in Mason City, on South Monroe Avenue.

“It is a bit ironic that I’ve made great progress in just the past 48 hours on two fronts,” Steve Ridge, a private investigator on the case said.
 
So what does Steve Ridge want you to know? Here’s what he has to say.
 
“One, I’m identifying and meeting with some new people who saw Jodi socially on the final days before her abduction. And number two, learning previously unknown details regarding the purchase of her Mazda Miata. So I can tell you the last two days have been extremely productive in terms of unearthing new information,” Ridge said.

But he won’t reveal the new information, or tell us why it’s productive. But it’s another tease in a frustrating case, and Steve Ridge believes this case is solvable.

The new billboard in town could lead the way to someone not sitting in silence anymore.
 
“You just never know where a tip or a bit of information is going to come from. And so I think it’s a good value to have constantly reinforced and out there in the public,” Ridge said.
 
Scott Fuller agrees. He works here at KAUS radio in Austin, and he’s an active member of the find Jodi Team.
 
“We’re hoping this might be the year. You never know, and that’s the point of the billboard, is to get people locally in Mason City who might know something about Jodi’s case to come forward,” Fuller said.
 
The billboard is the second one of its kind in Mason City. The first one was installed three years ago on what would have been Jodi’s 50th birthday.
 
“We wanted to implement a sense of urgency in the message. Like don’t sit in silence, the time to talk is now,” Fuller said.
 
Back In Mason City, I talked to Jean Oleson.

She’s from Mason City, living in California.

When I showed her a picture of the new billboard, this is what she told me.
 
“I get a hole in my stomach in that it brings me back to when she went missing. Mason City is a safe place, and still, 26 years later, the cause of what happened and where she is not yet been resolved, I am thrilled that it’s up,” Oleson said.
 
Now there’s a lot to unpack here, but overall the search for Jodi continues.

Some people believe, now more than ever, that this case can be solved, and the new billboard is a sign of hope Jodi can be brought home one day and the mystery can be solved.