CHRISTOPHER Sign, an award-winning TV news anchor who wrote a 2016 exposé on Bill Clinton, has died. Local police chief Keith Czeskleba said on Saturday the death is being investigated as a suicide after the ABC 33/40 newsman was found at his home around 8am.
Sign, a former University of Alabama football player, penned a book about a secret tarmac meeting between Bill Clinton and then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch in June 2016.
'Secret on the Tarmac' was published in 2019.
ABC 33/40 released a statement mourning the loss of their beloved colleague on Saturday.
"To know Chris was to love Chris," the report said. "His family was the single most important thing in his life which is why he ended up returning to ABC 33/40 four years ago."
The veteran anchor worked as a reporter in Montgomery and Midland/Odessa, Texas, Birmingham, and Phoenix. He returned to ABC 33/40 in 2017 after turning down an opportunity to work at a major news network so he could spend more time with his family, the outlet said.
"What most people don't know is Chris turned down an opportunity to work for one of the national networks to come to ABC 33/40, and he made that decision because of his family.
"That decision put him in a place where he could see his boys off to school in the mornings, watch them play baseball in the evenings, and take them fishing on the weekends." The former college footballer played for the University of Alabama under Coach Gene Stallings in the 1990s, the outlet reported.
He won several awards for his journalistic endeavors throughout the years.
In 2014, he got an Emmy Award for breaking news for his coverage of the shootings of two Phoenix police officers. In 2016, he earned an Edward Murrow Award for spot news for his coverage of the search for the "Baseline Killer" and "Serial Shooter" in Phoenix.
He and his wife, Laura, met while attending the University of Alabama and went on to marry and have three sons.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.