Meet The Team

Lauren DeFranco

Lauren DeFranco has been the Long Island correspondent for WABC-TV since 1998. At an early age, Lauren knew she enjoyed story telling. At the age of seven she wrote and illustrated her first book. From that point on, she knew she would make a career out of writing.

Lauren comes to Eyewitness News from WVIT, the NBC affiliate in Hartford, Connecticut. At WVIT she was the general assignment reporter for Hartford and then New Haven. During her two years at WVIT she covered high profile stories like the Alex Kelly trial and police brutality in East Haven, Connecticut.

Lauren made headlines in Connecticut when she exposed a well-known city attorney for lying on the witness stand. Prior to working at WVIT she worked as the general assignment reporter for News 12 Long Island. Lauren began her broadcast career at TV 55 in Melville, Long Island, also as a general assignment reporter. On Long Island, Lauren covered such events as the crash of TWA Flight 800 and the Long Island Railroad Massacre.

She graduated from the University of Connecticut with a major in Journalism and Communications. At UConn, Lauren worked for the "Campus Daily" as a campus cartoonist. Lauren did her post graduate work at New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, Long Island where she majored in Electronic Communications.

Lauren resides on the North Shore of Long Island with her husband Shaun, who is a jazz musician. Lauren's hobbies include classical piano, art and theater. She has four brothers and sisters and enjoys spending time with them.

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