Mary Kay Mallonee

Mary Kay is well known for her hard-hitting investigative reports.  She won an Emmy for her investigation into the murder of a 2 year old girl named Imani Rogers. Mary Kay uncovered evidence proving social services ignored major warning signs that Imani was being abused. She proved the agency recklessly put her in the care of her convicted drug dealer step-father who murdered her 2 months later. Mary Kay's investigation into Imani's death led to changes across Virginia in the way Social Services handles cases.

One of Mary Kay’s investigative reports led to the voters' ousting of the Portsmouth Commonwealth's Attorney. Another investigation paved the way for the resignation of the Portsmouth city attorney after she revealed his comment, "We are not paying police officers and firefighters to be rocket scientists."

Mary Kay has also flown with the Air Force's elite Thunderbirds, pulling 9 Gs and loving every high-flying trick they pulled on her. She has sailed with the Coast Guard, gone on numerous drug raids with local police and trained with area arson investigators.

Mary Kay has also travelled with local FEMA teams to disasters around the country, which meant sleeping on Red Cross cots, surrounded by more than 50 snoring firefighters.

WAVY TV sent Mary Kay to Mississippi and Louisianna immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit. She and her photographer spent nearly a week there in dire conditions to bring the heartbreaking stories of the storm's victims home to our viewers. They slept in their news car and lived on trail mix and a small ration of hot, bottled water. They were surrounded by victims' bodies as well as snakes, alligators and frustrated residents shooting guns and stealing supplies.

Mary Kay has been in the TV news business since 1994, after she graduated from West Virginia University. Her mother was a reporter with Reuters, assigned to Capitol Hill.  She went on to become a columnist and author of "Your Mother's Somewhere in Canada: Stories of a Lifetime by Patricia L. Mallonee." Her extended family lives in Washington D.C. and Baltimore.

In her spare time, Mary Kay loves to travel and go sailing with her family and her black lab "Bear."

You can send Mary Kay an email at: marykay.mallonee@wavy.com

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