An Iowa television news reporter had a “secret last engagement” with a mystery man just 10 days before disappearing nearly three decades ago, according to a private investigator.
Cold case worker Steve Ridge has been investigating the mysterious disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit, a news anchor for KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa, who was 27 years old when she disappeared in the early morning hours of June 27, 1995.
Huisentruit, who was declared legally dead by authorities in 2001, told colleagues that morning that he had overslept and was late for work.
“Through my digging, I learned that Jodi had a very secret ‘last engagement’ with a man she met just 10 days before she disappeared,” Ridge, who has been investigating the case for years, told US Sun.
Ridge tracks down the unknown lover, who the police had cleared years ago after first declaring him a person of interest.
He believes “jealousy” was a factor in Huisentruit’s murder because he “had a strong fan base” and his newfound love interest may have “infuriated other suitors.”
Jodi Huisentruit, a news anchor for KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa, disappeared in the early morning hours of June 27, 1995.
On the morning of her disappearance, police conducted a welfare check at her home, where they found her belongings, including women’s red shoes and bent car keys, strewn around her red Mazda Miata parked out front.
Police interviewed neighbors who heard screams, indicating a fight had broken out, according to Ridge, who disclosed information to the US Sun previously known only to law enforcement.
Among the latest details is that Huisentruit’s love interest is a 27-year-old man from overseas.
According to Ridge, the two met at a bar and hit it off immediately. She said the couple talked “almost every day and he initiated the calls.”
Huisentruit, who was declared legally dead by authorities in 2001, told colleagues that morning that he had overslept and was late for work.
Ridge said he met the man, who gave him a tour of the Mason City home where he lived during their relationship.
“The house was the last place Jodi went on a ‘date’ before she disappeared,” Ridge told US Sun.
Five days before her disappearance, Huisentruit and her lover “were sitting on the back deck having drinks overlooking the lake.”
The man told Ridge that he and Huisentruit had an “instant attraction and bond.”
A private investigator said Huisentruit had a “secret engagement” to a mystery man just days before she disappeared.
The private investigator said “they both knew their blossoming relationship might anger other suitors.”
Ridge added that he “has no doubt that jealousy played a role in Jodi’s death.”
“I’m sure that his quickly developing relationship with Jodi played a key role in his later kidnapping,” Ridge said.
“I believe without a doubt that this relationship was clearly a factor in what happened because this was not a random act of violence, it wasn’t like that, it wasn’t a stalker that came out of nowhere.”
Law enforcement officials said the investigation into his disappearance remains open.
The Post has requested comment from the Mason City Police Department.
Last month, Ridge doubled the reward to $50,000 for information that would help locate Huisentruit’s body.
“Money can be a powerful incentive to motivate someone who would otherwise be reluctant to come forward,” Ridge said, according to Des Moines, Iowa, outlet KCCI. “Time is not on our side, and we need to warm up this cold case.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
