mikemcguff.com: Stephen Dean exits WRTV 6 Indianapolis

Stephen Dean, formerly of KPRC 2, checks in with a hint of Houston nostalgia

Stephen Dean

Former KPRC 2 investigative reporter Stephen Dean sent an email to mikemcguff.com to update us on the latest in his life - his departure from WRTV 6 Indianapolis.

You might remember that Dean left KPRC in May 2012, had a stop in WSYX 6 in Columbus, then joined his former KPRC GM at WRTV Indianapolis.

Could he now be returning to Houston? Well, KTRK abc13 did just lose Brian Collister who was the investigative reporter after the legendary Wayne Dolcefino. Just pointing that out...

Here is Dean's email to me:

I asked to leave WRTV 6, the Scripps station in Indianapolis and have completed my work at the station. I got there in October 2012 after 17-years on the air in Houston, including 11-years at KPRC.

As you'll recall, I worked for nearly 6 of my years at KPRC for general manager Larry Blackerby and he hired me at WRTV after I decided to leave Houston.

Just last week, an undercover investigation into 'Renegade Drones for Hire' was nominated for an Emmy. I had a lot of fun with that hidden camera project. We actually had 5 photographers and a helicopter pilot involved in the sting, and that report is still quoted by others who are reporting on commercial or private drones posing dangers in the skies.

Some of my other stories took on the IRS for mishandling identity theft complaints, the military for handing weapons to a convicted felon who ended up reporting a bunch of rifles stolen, and Congress reacted to my reporting on smuggled cell phones in prisons being used to threaten and attack people.

Here is the Youtube channel where those stories and most others are posted: http://www.youtube.com/user/dean6in

I broke a story on the station's website regarding a local college TA confessing to raping a student, but getting away with it because of the state's statute of limitations. The victim now has thousands of signatures on a petition and rallies at the Statehouse are pushing for this law to be changed.

In breaking the story of another rape on a different college campus (Butler), a rally was held at the campus to push for policy changes and it all started with my reporting.

I accomplished as much as I could while there, but it was time for me to look for something else. I love hard-hitting investigative reporting and I love enterprising the stories that force the competition to play catch up, but I want to do that somewhere else now.

My wife and I are thrilled to be headed in a new direction.

While she didn’t love Houston, she says I’m allowed to look back there for my next gig but I don’t know if that is truly in the cards.