M.L. Elrick joined the Local 4 News team in January 2006 as a Rescue 4 Undercover investigative reporter. His work in the print media has won local, state and national awards, including the 2005 Clark Mollenhoff Award for Excellence in Investigative Reporting.

Elrick's first bona fide newspaper investigation involved a small New Hampshire town and a public official with a particularly apt name: Swindlehurst.

From his early days at the Concord (N.H.) Monitor, Elrick has been holding public officials accountable for more than a decade. He has filed stories from across the country and around the world.

From Prague, he wrote about changes in the Czechoslovakian capital after the fall of Communism. In Athens, he sought out Iraqi refugees from the Persian Gulf War. And he spent a summer in France, working for papers in Nancy and Paris.

But it was in Harvey, Ill., where Elrick found his mantra. Inscribed on a photo of the city's mayor were the words "Just the truth."

After stops in Ireland, New Hampshire, France and Chicago, Elrick, a native East sider, returned to Detroit in 1999.

As a reporter at the Detroit Free Press, he delved into Eminem's early days as a struggling artist, exposed police who abused a confidential law enforcement database to harass people, and, with his partner, Jim Schaefer, conducted dozens of ground-breaking investigations into Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his inner circle.

He has written for the New York Times, Newsday, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Journal, Salon.com, Rollingstone.com, the National Law Journal, Chicago Magazine and HOUR Detroit magazine. His profile of Eminem was selected as the first chapter in an anthology entitled "White Noise."

Elrick has also taught journalism at Wayne State University and Michigan State University.

When he's not holding public officials accountable, Elrick can be found playing hockey, softball or just about any other sport. He also enjoys traveling, reading, music and movies. His favorite movies include "The Usual Suspects" and "Miller's Crossing." His favorite teams are the Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers and all Spartan squads. Critics agree that while he may know a thing or two about journalism, he is a terrible saxophone player.