Ashley Fantz
Reporter
CNN Investigations
Ashley Fantz has reported a range of high-profile stories for CNN. Her 2018 investigation Destroyed revealed that dozens of law enforcement agencies across the nation have destroyed rape kits — many never tested for DNA — in unsolved cases. In at least 400 cases, prosecutions still could have been made. The story caused change: several police departments stopped destroying rape kits, launched internal reviews and revised their investigative practices. Inspired by the story, a Georgia lawmaker drafted legislation, which passed the legislature in 2019, mandating the preservation of rape kits. A leading non-profit that advocates for sexual violence survivors created model legislation encouraging the same action in other states.Following that investigation, Ms. Fantz turned to Asheville, North Carolina, to unearth a story about a longtime charity leader’s criminal charge involving a sex crime committed against a teenage girl. The survivor, now 47, told her story for the first time to CNN. Those revelations – and Ms. Fantz’s reporting on the charity leader’s dubious awards – ultimately led to the man leaving the charity and other organizations stripping him of several honors. Her multimedia investigation The Uncounted revealed that military family members are committing and contemplating suicide just as service members and veterans are taking their own lives. The story showed the military’s failure to track family member suicides.Before joining CNN, Ms. Fantz was a general assignment reporter with the Miami Herald covering the state’s child welfare system and the criminal justice beat. She graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism.
