Fired Officer Suggests Police Link To Huisentruit

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) - A recently fired Mason City police officer is saying police may have been involved in the abduction and possible slaying of missing Mason City television anchor Jodi Huisentruit.

Maria Ohl made the allegations after a Civil Service Commission hearing Thursday. A hearing on her termination has been set for Sept. 13. Ohl says she received information that police may have been involved in the 1995 disappearance of Huisentruit and they may be covering up was happened by failing to act on the leads.

Ohl was placed on paid administrative leave last year. She says she was told she was fired last month because of her handling of the Huisentruit information.

Police Chief Mike Lashbrook and City administrator Brent Trout both declined to comment.

Huisentruit was a Long Prairie native and studied broadcast journalism at St. Cloud State University in the late 1980s.

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