Emily Matson suicide: Erie News anchor killed self jumping in front of train at Fairview Township, Pennsylvania. What challenges was award winning journalist going through? A question of mental health woes?
When a news media reporter becomes her own tabloid story…. A much beloved and celebrated news anchor for Pennsylvania’s Erie News Now killed herself early Monday morning after jumping in front of a train according to a coroner’s report released on Tuesday.
Emily Matson, 42, was struck by a train at around 12.45am on Monday, in Fairview Township in Erie, Pennsylvania, where she lived, according to Erie County Coroner’s Office.
The Erie News Now anchor and award winning journalist who had worked for Erie News for 19 years was last on air Friday before the station announced her shock suicide death on Monday.
Dramatic sudden death leaves colleagues rattled
‘It is with a very heavy heart that we have learned of the passing of our beloved Erie News Now news anchor Emily Matson,’ said Scott MacDowell, Erie News Now’s news director said in a statement.
‘Emily was a shining light in our newsroom, delivering news with a passion and love she had for the Erie community and Northwest Pennsylvania.
‘We loved Emily dearly and our hearts go out to the Matson family and her husband Ryan at this time.’
Matson’s colleagues said they were devastated at her sudden suicide death a report by GoErie told.
‘Emily was such a presence in the newsroom and in the studio, and I can’t count the number of times that I would stop by her desk to talk to her or just listen to her talk to others,’ wrote meteorologist Sara Tonks.
‘She always had a way of drawing people in and making them feel welcome, and when I first started at ENN she made sure I was included in the Secret Santa gift exchange and got me a sign that says ‘Let it Snow… Somewhere Else – Erie, PA.’
No sign that everything was not right?
‘She made me, a stranger and a baby in the industry feel included and was always there with advice or ideas if I needed them.’
‘She was very, very upbeat,’ recalled Paul Wagner, a former reporter at Erie News Now until his retirement in 2020. ‘She was a very positive person. She was always encouraging the new people. She always had a joke for everyone.’
John Stehlin, who worked with her, shared a post on Facebook on Friday of the two eating brownies.
‘It’s National Brownie Day! Look what my favorite coworker at 7 o’clock brought! She’s so kind! But she forgot the milk,’ he wrote.
Fans are now leaving messages of sympathy beneath the photo.
‘I am so sad to hear about Emily,’ wrote one. ‘I so enjoyed how fun you both made the 7 o’clock news. Light and healing to all at Erie News Now.’
Mental health woes?
Another added: ‘John, I am truly sorry for your loss. Seven o’clock news will never be the same. I am so devastated, I felt like I knew her. I had the pleasure of meeting her once. Again my heart hurts for you.’
And another said: ‘Sometimes you will never truly know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.’
Matson, an Erie native, joined WICU-TV, Erie’s NBC affiliate, in 2004 after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in communications and media technology from La Roche University in Pittsburgh.
Matson swiftly made a name for herself at Erie News Now, the local news operation for WICU-TV and WSEE-TV, Erie’s CBS affiliate. As she described her early career in her online biography for Erie News Now, Matson started out ‘working the wee hours of the night’ producing the station’s morning show.
Matson moved on to a job as a general assignment reporter. She focused on the crime beat. In the studio, she was known for mentoring young colleagues and speaking her mind, all with a sunny disposition.
‘Emily was fearless and filterless,’ said Lisa Adams, a reporter and anchor at Erie News Now for 46 years. ‘I think those were the two things that made her a great member of our news team.’
Eerie News bosses didn’t say what led to the much adored news anchor killing herself, whether she had been undergoing mental health challenges and whether there were missed signs? It remained unclear if Matson was undergoing mental health counselling leading up to her abrupt suicide death.
