Leslie Rubin

Hi, y’all! I’ve been part of the Eyewitness News team since 2010. Journalism has always been more than just a job to me—it's my calling. Anyone who knows me will tell you how deeply passionate I am about this business and how much I truly could not imagine doing anything else.

For nearly eight years, I worked as a reporter before stepping into the role of Assistant News Director in 2018. While I now help lead our newsroom, reporting and investigative journalism remain at the heart of what I do.

I’m a proud West Virginia girl, born and raised. It’s a privilege to report on the people and stories in the place I’ve always called home.

I’m a graduate of George Washington High School and earned my bachelor’s degree in broadcast news from West Virginia University, graduating magna cum laude in 2008. I got my start at WDTV in Bridgeport, where I worked as a reporter for more than two years. Clarksburg quickly became my second home. The lessons I learned there shaped the journalist I am today.

One of the most defining moments of my career was covering the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster in 2010. My satellite engineer and I lived out of a news car for a week in Raleigh County, reporting every development as the story unfolded. It was there that I witnessed the resilience, grace, and compassion that define the people of my home state. The UBB disaster left an indelible mark on me, not just as a journalist but as a West Virginian. I continued to follow the story for years, including the high-profile trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship. A decade later, I produced an anniversary special on the tragedy, which was honored with an Emmy nomination. You can watch it here.

Throughout my career, I’ve been honored with numerous awards, including a National Edward R. Murrow Award in 2024 for an investigative report on a serial rapist in Charleston—the first national Murrow Award ever received by WCHS.

I’ve also earned four Regional Murrow Awards and, in 2024, took home my first Ohio Valley Regional Emmy for Specialty Assignment Reporting. That story explored the 1975 murder of a Canadian teenager, eventually linked to a West Virginia man through DNA evidence, decades after his death. Being there when his body was exhumed to help bring closure to the victim’s family was something I’ll never forget.

In addition to my reporting, I spent nearly a decade hosting Fugitive Files, a weekly series recognized multiple times for its service to the community. I stepped away from that role to focus more on victim-driven stories but the mission remains the same—seeking truth and justice. I have a passion for crime and courtroom coverage.

In 2020, I launched a special series dedicated to investigating cold cases across West Virginia—an effort that continues to uncover new details and bring renewed attention to unsolved crimes.

Outside of the newsroom, I’m a die-hard country music fan and never miss a concert if I can help it. Interviewing Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood was a career highlight but Eric Church is my #1. And yes, I’m a proud elder-millennial Swiftie. I guarantee you I can sing, word-for-word, pretty much any '90s country song ever written. If I meet Reba McEntire before I die, I'll have accomplished everything I've ever dreamed of.

More important than all of this, though, are my three children. I have twins who are about to start kindergarten. My oldest is going into the 2nd grade. We love to sing far too loudly in the car. I'm raising them right...on 90s country, of course.