Former ABC7 News reporter dies after cancer battle

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- ABC7 is remembering a colleague and dear friend who died on Thursday morning.

Laura Marquez joined ABC7 News in 1989, just before the Loma Prieta Earthquake. She was one of first reporters on the scene in San Francisco's Marina District, not knowing she was one of those who had lost her home.

Marquez became one of the Bay Area's top political reporters. In 2004, she joined ABC News in Washington as a correspondent.

She bravely battled cancer for 16 years, and never lost her bright spirit and sense of joy and optimism for life. She was great reporter, but an even better person and a dear friend.

Marquez was 56 years old and she will be missed by all of us at ABC7 News and by her beloved family.