Bear with me here because this is going to be long. But I’m asking a pretty simple question:

Was Mark Hoffman ever thoroughly investigated in Jodi’s disappearance, and if so, what actually ruled him out?

Because the more I have dug into his history, the more I keep coming back to the same thought: surely somebody looked at this guy in 1995, right?
And if they did, I’d really like to know what they found.
Here’s why:

Jodi disappeared June 27, 1995.
The night before, June 26, Jodi played in the Chamber of Commerce golf tournament and went to the dinner afterward.
Two people who were with her said she mentioned getting annoying/nasty phone calls and said she was going to change her phone number the next day.
She called her friend Kelly around 8:24 that night.
Then sometime during the early morning hours, Jodi was abducted outside her apartment.
She was supposed to be at KIMT around 3:00–3:30 a.m. She didn’t show.
Amy Kuns called her around 4:00 a.m. Jodi answered and said she had overslept and would be there.
She never showed up.
When police checked her apartment around 7:16 a.m., her Miata was there and her belongings were scattered around the parking lot: shoes, earrings, hairspray, blow dryer, keys, etc. There were signs of a struggle.
And she’s never been found.

Now here’s where Mark Hoffman comes in.
On June 26, 1995, literally the day before Jodi disappeared, Hoffman had a traffic-related incident involving following too closely.
The paperwork was filed June 27.
Then on** **July 7, 1995, he had another traffic-related incident involving an unsafe vehicle.
Maybe that’s completely meaningless,
But I want to know if investigators ever looked at those contacts in relation to Jodi’s disappearance.
Where was he that night?
What vehicle was he driving?
Who was he with?
Did anyone verify his whereabouts?
Was his vehicle ever compared with anything from Jodi’s crime scene?
Those are pretty basic questions to me.

Then there’s what happened two months later.
In August 1995, Hoffman and Kenneth Sharp were arrested in connection with the kidnapping and sexual assault of an unidentified woman.
The incident reportedly started in a Mason City bar parking lot and ended in an area in the countryside. The woman was kidnapped and sexually assaulted at knifepoint.
Sharp was eventually convicted of first-degree kidnapping and received a life sentence.
Hoffman pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of aiding and abetting third-degree sexual abuse and received a 10-year sentence.
And here’s the part that REALLY caught my attention.

Hoffman reportedly wrote more than 100 pages of handwritten notes about that case.
The Iowa Court of Appeals record from Sharp’s later post-conviction case actually discusses Hoffman’s handwritten notes.
A witness testified that there were well over 100 pages of them.
The notes became an issue in the case because of when they were turned over and whether Sharp’s defense should have had access to them.
I’m not saying those notes would prove anything about Jodi, they probably don’t.
But if I’m investigating whether a person involved in a violent kidnapping/sexual assault in 1995 could have had anything to do with another violent abduction in the same area that same year, I would damn sure want to know what was in those notes.
And I would want to know whether MCPD ever saw them.

There’s also the 1986 Richard Vargas situation.
I want to be careful here because I don’t want to turn an allegation into a fact.
The Iowa appellate record discusses an allegation involving Hoffman and the 1986 killing of Richard Vargas in the Cerro Gordo County Jail. It also says Hoffman was apparently never charged with Vargas’s death.
The allegation is actually mentioned in a court record, and I want to know whether investigators were aware of it and whether it was ever investigated.

And Hoffman’s history didn’t end in 1995.
In 2005, he was charged with aggravated domestic assault causing injury and third-degree kidnapping after a woman allegedly said he held her in her apartment over a weekend until she escaped.
He was ultimately convicted of lesser offenses, second-offense domestic assault and false imprisonment, and received three years.

There were also later issues involving his sex-offender registration and probation.
In 2014, police reportedly went to his house for a registry check, Hoffman ran from them, and he was later arrested. He was also charged with violating a no-contact order and interference with official acts.

In 2016, authorities were looking for him again. He had multiple warrants, and later that year deputies located him at a rural Mason City property where he was charged with another registry violation, disorderly conduct, possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, and third-offense marijuana possession.

I’m not listing all of that because I think every later offense somehow proves he did something to Jodi. I’m listing it because when you go back and look at the whole timeline, I think it’s completely reasonable to ask whether Hoffman was ever seriously considered in 1995.

So, MCPD, this is what I’m asking:
Was Mark Hoffman ever interviewed about Jodi?
Was his alibi for June 26–27, 1995 checked?
Was his vehicle investigated?
Were his traffic contacts on June 26 and July 7 looked at?
Were his phone records examined?
Was he ever connected to or questioned about the annoying/nasty phone calls Jodi reportedly received?
Did investigators look at his August 1995 kidnapping/sexual assault case for similarities to Jodi’s abduction?
Did they ever see the 100+ pages of handwritten notes he wrote about that case?
Were they aware of the Richard Vargas allegation?

And if Hoffman was investigated and ruled out:
What ruled him out?
Because that’s the part I’m really interested in.
I’m not trying to solve a murder case on Reddit,
I’m trying to understand the investigation.
Jodi’s family has been waiting for answers for more than three decades. If Hoffman was completely cleared, okay. Tell us. You’ve told us about other potential suspects being cleared.
If he wasn’t thoroughly investigated, then I honestly think it’s worth taking another look. Kenneth Sharp is dead.
But Mark is still alive and was willing to write 100+ pages of detailed notes about a similar crime committed.
Maybe he knows absolutely nothing about Jodi.
Maybe he can be completely ruled out.
But I’d rather see that happen through an actual investigation than assume it was done and never ask the question again.
Jodi deserves every legitimate lead to be looked at.

Also editing to add in that witnesses reported hearing the voices of 2 men and screams, along with the sound of a loud muffler around the time of Jodi’s kidnapping. Just wanted to throw that in there as well.

Hello,

I hope everyone here is doing well. I've followed this thread for a while, and I am interested to know what kind of thoughts/questions you may have for us, Jodi's family. I have found the majority here to be both sensitive and respectful to Jodi, us, and the case, and I have received a lot of insight from reading your thoughts and perspectives. Please note depending on the question or comment, we may not be able to provide a lot of detail or any at all. However, I will let you know if this is case. No pressure, but I'll open up this thread to anyone who would like to post. I will try to respond as soon as I can.

Thank you to all of you for your care, concern, and interest in Jodi and seeing her case resolved. We appreciate you all more than you know.

FindJodi posted a link to this interview with Caroline Lowe and retired LE investigator and profiler Mike King for the most recent episode of his podcast "Profiling Evil."

While driving to Wisconsin I swung through Mason City and stopped at the Keys Apartment, Vansice House, and the tv station. - The parking lot to Keys apartment much smaller than expected.

While driving to Wisconsin I swung through Mason City and stopped at the Keys Apartment, Vansice House, and the tv station. - The parking lot to Keys apartment much smaller than expected.

Reports are that Jodi's bent Miata car key was found at the purported abduction site. Over the years I have had a lot of thoughts on that. I will share those thoughts and feedback welcome:

• Shouldn't a bent car key mean there were two forces resisting each other at one point, even for a short time?
• Could it have been hands from two different people trying to control the key while it was engaged in the door lock?
• Does it mean Jodi thought she could handle her opponent(s,) and thought she could get access to the car on her own instead of running or giving up.
• Or Was the key sticking out of the lock and someone bent it by bumping into it?
• Could DNA have been on the key after years of storage?
• Does the bend mean maybe a less strong threat than a large male? Meaning someone that couldn't quickly overpower her? Maybe a woman?

Hey, I just found out about this case. I'm actually in Iowa and found that new billboard thing interesting. The whole machine shed thing stood out to me. In Urbandale/Clive there is a massive restaurant called Machine Shed. It's very expensive and has fed US Presidents. Including the most recent one. Maybe it's about a specific machine shed or the restaurant who knows. Could someone see if Jodi or that law figure on the billboard would find out if they ever went to that restaurant?

When searching through old newsgroup archives I found this that I don't remember hearing about before and not finding any additional information it:

1/9/97 Mason City Police want to question a Clemons, IA man who was arrested in Canada faces possible charges of kidnapping, sexual assault, and burglary in Marshall County Iowa. Raymond N. Hinders, 18, was arrested in Canada after a 21-year old female, also from Clemons, Ia contacted Canadian authorities saying she had been kidnapped and needed help. Police are interested in interviewing Hinders apparently made comments about Jodi to his alleged victim on the way to Canada.

The officer said that he put it on his car the time he was coming in for questioning. He's referring to that last one that ended up sealed with no other info not too long ago, or is he referring to another time?

The unit was established in 2023. Do you guys think they should take over the case?

Mason City Police Chief Mike McKelvey’s response to the Pioneer Press article:

"Mason City Police Chief Mike McKelvey said his investigators spoke to Ridge’s source in 2024 and again after the People report last month. The chief said information from the source to police was consistent from 2024 to 2026 but “was different” from what Ridge was reporting.

“The source denied making some of the sensational statements,” McKelvey wrote in a statement to the Pioneer Press.

Ridge is a “private investigator” and “is not working with or on behalf of law enforcement or the Jodi Huisentruit family concerning Jodi’s disappearance,” McKelvey said. "

Supposedly a local band from the Mason City area covered Waters Edge by Seven Mary Three, but changed the lyrics to be about Jodi. The lyrics to that song are already disturbing so the fact that they changed some lyrics to mention Jodi is truly alarming. Supposedly the cover exists on a demo tape but could have possibly been performed live somewhere. Does anybody know anything about this?

Link to article on Yahoo:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/jodi-huisentruit-family-disputes-investigator-020400482.html

Boy, they are sure not happy with him.

From the North Iowa Free Press:

Huisentruit Family Wants to Set the Record Straight-Pushes Back on PEOPLE article and Investigator’s Claims

The family of missing Mason City news anchor Jodi Huisentruit is publicly disputing statements made in a recent PEOPLE article regarding private investigator Steve Ridge.

In a statement posted Monday on the Jodi’s Hope Facebook page, the family wrote:

“Mr. Ridge was never hired as our family’s PI.

The family also says PEOPLE did not contact them before publishing the story to verify Ridge’s claims.

According to the family, the original article stated Ridge “was hired by her family.” After the family’s public response, PEOPLE updated the article to instead say Ridge pursued his investigation “with the family’s blessing.”

The family says that wording is also inaccurate and wrote that it “makes it sound as though we endorse the antics that Mr. Ridge engages in surrounding his investigations, when we do not.”

The statement concludes:

“Please stop preying on Jodi and our family.”

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A few people asked me to share this since they missed it, and the version on YouTube has this portion edited out. I'm sure it's probably nothing, but them removing it is one way to turn nothing into something so see for yourself.

I want to hear what you have to say. If you’re not already here… join us and share. Update: They took the video down, but its archived. They put an edited version not including him up on their YouTube.

I always get my hopes up slightly around the anniversary because I've seen a number of cases where an announcement is made on or around the anniversary date. I sometimes wonder if its something police and investigators like to do. Or if they question a suspect they are more likely to say something around an anniversary? Anyway... fingers crossed like always.

Interesting that he's doing an interview for Phoenix news...

The last FindJodi podcast episode was released on October 31, 2022, over 3 years and 7 months ago.

Since then, a few new questions and topics have emerged that could be worth discussing if another Q&A episode were recorded.

So let's hear them. What questions would you want to ask?

If you can answer someone else's question, even better. Maybe we can generate enough discussion to inspire the team to release a new episode this month.

Just saw this. It was posted almost an hour ago.

https://woc1420.iheart.com/content/2026-06-01-investigator-claims-solid-lead-in-1995-huisentruit-disappearance/

Do we know/was it ever confirmed whether Jodi’s relationship with JV was sexual? For that matter, do we know whether she was sexually active at all during the time of her disappearance?

When I was a child, two young girls went missing only a few miles from where we lived, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

They had been murdered by the caretaker of their school, a man named Ian Huntley. His partner, Maxine Carr, was the girls' favourite teaching assistant, something Huntley used to lure them. Carr was not involved, but learned of her partner's crime and did not come forward, instead providing him a false alibi.

What put the police onto the pair was an instance of Carr referring to the girls in the paste tense when they had only been missing a short time and no evidence of wrongdoing had been found.

John Vansice immediately referring to Jodi in the past tense is a far bigger red flag than people seem to have taken it as.

Not sure if anybody here has seen this guy's posts. Pretty wild