Mireya Villarreal has left ABC News and television news, transitioning to a communications role at Lockheed Martin after more than a decade as a national network correspondent.
Villarreal recently shared a career update on social media, reflecting on her next chapter and the skills she developed as a journalist.
“New chapter. New team. Same storyteller.
Another year around the sun got me thinking - I’ve spent a career chasing stories. And I finally figured out, those skills translate and can go wherever you do. Patience and confidence are key.
Here’s to taking chances, trusting the plot twists, and finding new ways to do what you’ve always loved. Mission. Purpose. Passion. And knowing my 'why'.
The story continues.”
Villarreal's move into corporate communications follows her departure from ABC News in January 2026. She joined Lockheed Martin in February 2026 as a senior staff member in external communications for the F-35. She also founded Mira Ella Media, LLC, in January 2026.
Villarreal joined ABC News in 2021 as a Dallas-Fort Worth-based national correspondent. Her reporting appeared across the network's major programs, including World News Tonight with David Muir, Good Morning America, Nightline and ABC News Live Prime.
One of her most significant assignments came in May 2022, when she was the first network correspondent on the ground and on air following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers. Villarreal and her team spent the initial week covering the tragedy and returned to the community repeatedly as part of ABC News' Uvalde 365 initiative.
During her time at ABC News, Villarreal also contributed to award-winning journalism. She was part of the team that received a 2024 duPont-Columbia Award for The Power of Water, a special examining the effects of climate change and the importance of water. In 2023, she received the National Association of Hispanic Journalists' Ñ Award for her work on THC: The Human Cost, an investigative special about human trafficking connected to illegal marijuana farms in the Pacific Northwest.
Her other honors include three Lone Star Emmy Awards, multiple Associated Press awards and participation in a CBS News team that won a 2020 Edward R. Murrow Award for its coverage of the U.S.-Mexico border. She also contributed to Pandemia, a special examining COVID-19's impact on Latino communities that received NAHJ's 2021 Al Neuharth Award for Investigative Journalism.
Before joining ABC News, Villarreal spent more than six years as a national correspondent for CBS News, from 2015 to 2021. She covered stories across the country for programs including CBS Evening News, CBS This Morning and CBSN.
Villarreal previously worked as an investigative reporter for CBS 11 KTVT in Dallas-Fort Worth and WOAI-TV in San Antonio.
Before San Antonio, Villarreal reported for KRGV 5 Rio Grande Valley.
She began her broadcasting career in South Texas, eventually becoming the first woman to serve as a sports anchor at KGNS in Laredo.
A graduate of the University of Texas-Pan American, Villarreal earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in marketing.
