Mireya Villarreal
Mireya Villarreal is a national correspondent for ABC News based in Dallas-Fort Worth, where she covers timely stories predominantly in the Southern region. Her reporting can be seen across all ABC programs and platforms, including “World News Tonight with David Muir,” “Good Morning America,” “ABC News Live Prime” and “Nightline.”
In May of 2022, Villarreal was the first network correspondent on the ground and on air during the Uvalde massacre that left 21 people dead. Initially, she and her team spent a week in the area covering the tragedy and returned countless times as a part of the network’s Uvalde 365 initiative.
Villarreal was part of the ABC News team that won a 2024 duPont-Columbia Award for “The Power of Water,” a special that focused on the impact of climate change and the importance of water. She also won the 2023 NAHJ Ñ Award for her work with the “ABC News Live Prime” team on the investigative special “THC: The Human Cost,” a focus on human trafficking in the Pacific Northwest in illegal marijuana farms. Villarreal has won numerous awards, including three Lone Star Emmys® and several AP Awards, and she was part of the team that won the 2020 Edward R. Murrow Award for best newscast for in-depth and exclusive coverage from the United States-Mexico border. She was also part of the team that put together a special on the impact of COVID-19 on the Latino community called “Pandemia;” the project won NAHJ’s 2021 Al Neuharth Award for Investigative Journalism.
Before joining ABC News in 2021, Villarreal served as a national correspondent at CBS News for seven years, covering the Western and Southern regions. She has reported on various stories, including severe Texas weather, COVID-19 vaccination efforts across the South, and immigration along the southwest border. While working for CBS, Villarreal was also the first network journalist to investigate and report on sexual harassment allegations at Fort Hood in the disappearance and murder of Vanessa Guillen.
Prior to CBS News, Villarreal was the lead investigative reporter at KTVT-TV in Dallas. She began her career as an associate producer in south Texas, quickly transitioning to an on-air role in Laredo as the first woman to serve as a sports anchor at KGNS. She also worked as an investigative reporter in San Antonio at WOAI-TV and KRGV-TV.
Villarreal is a mother who is highly involved in nonprofit work in her community and passionate about mentoring young journalists.
