With Its Anchors Away, Waco Rides Wave of Publicity

The story of two local television anchors reported missing but later found to have left town together is a hot topic in this small city.

When Wendy Sheldon, a weekday anchor of KWTX-TV, didn’t show for work on Friday, her husband, a production manager at the station, reported her missing.

Mike Reeder, the weekend anchor, also was reported missing by the station manager. His wife told police that some of his clothes were missing.

After the Waco Tribune-Herald published a news item Sunday based on the police blotter, the station announced on the air later that day that Sheldon had called to say she was fine--and also that she was accompanied by Reeder, whose company car had been found abandoned.

Local officials said the two were in Albuquerque, N.M. Neither had returned to work Wednesday.

At first, some residents of this Bible-belt city wondered if it was just a publicity stunt, but as the Waco Tribune-Herald published updates on the case, that thought diminished. Then on Tuesday, the incident was featured on the nationally syndicated show “A Current Affair.”

“I thought that was hilarious--’a current affair,’ ” said a Waco resident who would identify herself only as Jan. “But I can’t understand why anybody outside of Waco cares.”

A deputy court clerk for McClennan County said the disappearance has the courthouse abuzz, and she expects she may be indirectly involved at some point.

“None of those involved have come in here yet,” said the clerk, who handles divorce case filings. “But it wouldn’t surprise me.”

Sammy Citrano, general manager of the Elite Cafe, said Sheldon and Reeder were occasional customers and “both good people.”

“It’s not that big a deal. It’s their personal lives,” Citrano said Wednesday. “They’re just somebody that got caught.”

Dennis O’Brien, producer of “A Current Affair,” said the show will continue covering the anchors’ disappearance. Virgil Teter, vice president for news at KWTX-TV, declined to say whether the two would retain their jobs.