Former WHNT anchor Melissa Riopka died Saturday after a battle with acute myeloid leukemia. She was 48 years old.

Riopka interned at the Huntsville CBS affiliate before working at stations in Chattanooga and Birmingham. She returned to the station in 2013 as a morning reporter, eventually working as a morning anchor.

The station described her as “a great friend to many she worked with during her time at WHNT.”

She left News 19 in March 2022.