L.A. investigative reporter and producer
died Sunday in a hiking accident near Altadena, the mountainous neighborhood just north of Pasadena, Calif. He was 56.
Another hiker discovered his body in a ravine below a trail leading to Inspiration Point in the Angeles National Forest, according to MyFoxLA.com. The preliminary cause of death is trauma sustained from a fall off the steep trail.
“He made a personal difference in my professional life every day,” Fox 11’s VP News Director Kingsley Smith
. “Whenever he stopped by to share a story, I saw the deep passion and dedication in his work and projects.”
Medical producer Gerri Shaftel told
that Burns went above and beyond the call of duty.
“Martin, an amazing and talented investigative producer, put his life on the line repeatedly to chase stories,” Shaftel said. “He was the guy the rest of us worried about. Martin survived close encounters with flying bullets and cross-border drug wars. I can’t imagine the loss to his son and my colleagues who worked most closely with him. Life is too short.”
(c) 2013 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
