Dig Fails to Turn Up New Clues About Missing Iowa Anchorwoman
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Authorities hoping to find new clues in the case of a missing Mason City television anchor turned up only rocks, bricks and pieces of wood in a dig near Eagle Lake in Hancock County.
KIMT-TV morning anchor Jodi Huisentruit vanished in June 1995 shortly after she told a fellow worker she would be in to work. She has never been found and no arrests have been made.
On Tuesday, officials with the Mason City police department and the Hancock County sheriff's office dug near hunting cabins on the banks of Eagle Lake — where they had dug before.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It was something we needed to explore," Hancock County Sheriff Scott Dodd said.
Duane Arnold, 74, of Mason City, who has a cabin on the lake, told authorities he noticed grave-shaped digging on the property days after Huisentruit disappeared.
The site on Eagle Lake was investigated in 2003, and nothing was found. Arnold contended investigators missed the spot during their first look at the site. He recently hired an engineering firm to survey the property using ground-penetrating radar. Engineers confirmed that something was there but couldn't say exactly what it was.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On Tuesday, officials dug an area to and beyond a five-foot mark where radar detected the material.
They used a large blue tarp to collect the soil as they dug it up. The officers separated the rock, bricks, clay tile pieces and wood.
Mason City police Lt. Ron Vande Weerd said it appeared that the rock and brick had been dumped there for fill.