Katherine Creag, a reporter for NBC 4 in New York City, died Wednesday evening at the age of 47, according to the network.
Her death came as a surprise, her employer said, as she’d been working as recently as Wednesday morning.
She had been with the company since 2011 and was a fixture in the city. She appeared on the “Today in New York” morning show and was so well-known that her 2006 wedding was written up in the New York Times. Her death hit the local press, too, with the New York Post quickly memorializing her Thursday morning.
“For ten years Kat was one of our cornerstones, always willing to help in any situation, whether it was a colleague in need or a shift that needed to be covered. She was thoughtful, funny and relentless. And even on the toughest days she was a bright light, quick with a kind word and a smile,” said an email to staffers from Amy Morris, vice president of news for WNBC.
Tributes poured in from local reporters from the Wall Street Journal, NY1, WPIX and MSNBC on Twitter. She was described by peers and her employer as someone who was warm and loved to laugh.