 Washingtonian
Magazine
Spotlight: On the Case with Angeline Hartmann
May 2007 | by Lydia Strohl
She spends her days absorbed by murder and other crimes—so
others might sleep easier. Angeline Hartmann, the newest
correspondent on America’s Most Wanted, has tackled some
tough cases: two teens kept in a dungeon. A 14-year-old
raped and murdered. A toddler stuffed into a cooler and
left on the side of a road.
She remembers her first case, a woman missing in Atlanta,
where Hartmann, a rookie at WAGA-TV, was working solo
to launch Georgia’s Most Wanted. “She was young and single,
like me. I interviewed her aunt—the pain in her eyes,
she had no answers,” says Hartmann. “I wanted to pay attention
to these cases.”
When Hartmann’s husband, a special agent for the Department
of Justice—they met at a crime scene—was transferred to
Washington, she landed her “dream job” with America’s
Most Wanted. She works with the police and FBI to find
fugitives to profile for the show, re-creating stories
from what are often heart-wrenching interviews with victims
and their families.
“We cry together. For many, I become a therapist—I go
to birthdays, weddings, and funerals,” says Hartmann.
Hartmann’s empathy may be genetic. Her mom, a nurse,
met her father, who served in the Coast Guard, in the
States, though both are Filipino. They’ve spent their
lives bringing extended family to Hartmann’s native California.
“They are the American dream,” says Hartmann.
Hartmann’s son, Tyler, was born in January. She says
motherhood has fueled her passion. “This work teaches
me you can never give up. And if there’s an arrest? It’s
out of this world.”
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