Professional Experience

2021 - present: WINK News morning anchor
2019 - 2021: WINK News weekend anchor/reporter
2018 - 2019: WINK News reporter
Previously worked as a weekend anchor and reporter at KMIZ in Columbia, Missouri.

Awards and Recognition

2019 Suncoast Regional Emmy Award nomination for reporting on a "Bomb Squad Search at a Home in Cape Coral."
Two Heart of America Gold Awards from the Kansas City Press Club for a special report on "Surviving a Mass Shooting" and for several reports on human and sex trafficking in mid-Missouri.

News Philosophy

Be a voice for the voiceless.

Education

Ohio University, E.W. Scripps School of Journalism

Hometown

Canonsburg, PA

Hobbies and Interests & Community Involvement

I love soaking up the sun. You can find me relaxing at the beach or at the pool with a good murder mystery book. I enjoy working out and recently became a certified Les Mills Body Pump instructor. Being just a short flight away from so many beautiful countries and territories in the Caribbean, I love exploring new areas and cultures. Animals are my favorite. I am a volunteer at the Gulf Coast Humane Society and help other rescue organizations with events and fundraisers. I also volunteer with Best Buddies Southwest Florida and the Children's Advocacy Center.

Family and Pets

My husband and I are proud parents to two black cats named Isaac and Cleo.

Likes best about Southwest Florida:

The weather and beaches. We live where people vacation.

 

Man tries to lure teenagers to his car outside Lehigh Acres library

Four teenagers were almost lured away Thursday and it was from a supposedly safe place: the East County Library in Lehigh Acres. Now parents are worried since that man is still out on the streets. A group of teen girls told the the sheriff’s office that a man was trying to get them to come over […]

Big Red has been stolen. Photo via Healthy Harvest Community Farms.

Search is on for thieves that stole a non-profit’s tractor

Kale, tomatoes and radishes are just some of the many vegetables growing on the Healthy Harvest Community Farms in Lehigh Acres waiting to go to local food pantries. But now, the non-profit organization is missing a big piece of equipment that helps make it all possible. “What we do is give away food so for […]

The site of the United States Post Office robbery on Wednesday. Photo via WINK News.

Authorities are on the hunt for the four Immokalee U.S. Post Office robbers

The hunt is on for four men who held three Immokalee U.S. Post Office employees at gunpoint and fled with cash Wednesday morning. “I’m amazed,” Wesley Bird said, who lives in Immokalee. “Me living around here like I don’t like dang… four people come in armed? That’s kinda crazy.” Wesley Bird lives next door to the […]

Lee County schools sees spike in THC oil and vape pens

Drugs in the classroom. It is not the setting parents like Denise Irizarry want to hear about for her teenage daughter. “It’s alarming and scary,” Irizarry said. Her daughter’s school, Fort Myers high, had two drug busts so far this school year. These represent two of nearly 100 in the entire School District of Lee County. […]

LCSO needs help finding miniature horse’s owner

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is trying to find the owner of a miniature horse that turned up in North Fort Myers. LCSO says they found the horse galloping along Mellow Drive and Barbie Lane Thanksgiving morning. “We never know what we’re going to get,” said Sgt. Randy Hodges with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. […]

Unincorporated Fort Myers neighborhood comes together after house fire

A neighborhood in Fort Myers is working together to address the safety of their streets after a home burned to the ground Monday afternoon. MORE: South Fort Myers home a total loss after fire Monday The nearest fire hydrant from the home was 1500 feet away on Fountain Avenue. The county says the neighborhood can submit […]

Holiday shopping leaves buyers prone to fraud

This holiday season, many of you are out and about shopping for the perfect gifts for your friends and family. But more shopping means more risk for theft and credit card fraud. One couple in Charlotte County says someone took their money without them even realizing it until they saw strange purchases on their card, […]

Community gathers in green to mourn killed in Lehigh Acres crash

Friends and family gathered Friday at the First Baptist Church in Lehigh Acres for a touching tribute to a five-year-old boy who died tragically in a car crash this week. His yoga teacher, Marion Amendt, says her class won’t be the same without him. “He was the only little boy in the class and he […]

K9 SRO is first in the Charlotte County schools

School resources officers in Charlotte County are going to get some backup. This will be the first year that Punta Gorda Police Officer Dean Irving will be joined by his K9 partner, Chase. Chase is the first and only K9 School Resource Officer in Charlotte County Schools, and the goal? To bridge the gap between […]

Port Charlotte woman ripped off at garage sale by counterfeit bills

A Port Charlotte woman was ripped off at her own garage sale by someone using fake money. A customer purchased Kelley Doran’s discounted items using two counterfeit $20 bills. “I just didn’t think much about it and just took it,” she said. “It felt kind of strange but I didn’t put anything together with that. […]