Mireya Villarreal-Gideon recently joined the News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooters team and couldn’t be more excited.
Growing up, she always thought she’d be a lawyer. But after attending law school for a year, she took a break and realized being a lawyer wasn’t what she liked; what she liked was the idea of being a voice for people that are less fortunate.
Since then, she’s worked her way up the news ladder. She started her career as a part-time associate producer in the Rio Grande Valley. Mireya was quickly moved to the weekend producer position; but her goal was always to get on air. So in the Spring of 2004 she began her on-air career in Laredo, Texas as the weekend sports anchor/reporter for KGNS Pro 8 News. In the Summer of 2005 she re-joined KRGV Newschannel 5 as a news reporter.
Mireya was born and raised in Edinburg, Texas (in the Rio Grande Valley). She also attended college in the Valley at the University of Texas Pan-American on a tennis scholarship.
Mireya has covered stories on the rise of violence along the border, drugs in Mexico, and more recently, Hurricane Dolly. She has won an Associated Press award for her continuing coverage of a daycare that sprayed pesticide on two kids’ heads to get rid of lice. She has also won two other AP awards for discovering back roads in South Texas that allow illegal immigrants to bypass border security and for uncovering teachers who slept with their students.
While in the Rio Grande Valley, Mireya volunteered with the United Way and Dress for Success, and looks forward to getting involved with the San Antonio community.
"I look forward to being a voice for the community of San Antonio. Working with the Trouble Shooters will help me dig up the wrongs in our community and help make them right," Mireya says.
E-mail:
MireyaVillarreal@woaitv.com
