Early risers in St. Louis may have noticed a change to the lineup at KMOV recently. Laura Hettiger, who has been reporting on the station's early morning program for years, vanished from the show recently.

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Naturally, many viewers who were used to tuning in to her regularly are now wondering what happened to Laura, and whether they can catch her anchoring the news at another time or on another station.

What happened to Laura Hettiger at KMOV?

Laura's fans don't need to worry too much, as the anchor isn't moving far. After 11 years as an anchor on News 4 This Morning, she is now an anchor on News 4 Great Day, which also airs on KMOV but allows for a much more normal working day. In an extended post on Facebook, Laura explained why the shift in her schedule was necessary now that she was starting a family.

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"I have spent all 11 of my years at KMOV on News 4 This Morning — getting up sometime between 1:00 and 2:30 in the morning either reporting the news, breaking stories, bringing you traffic updates, sharing trending stories and even anchoring the newscast," she wrote in her post.

She added that she had started talking about how tough her schedule was on her family after she told her manager she was pregnant last June.

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Laura's husband is a cardiologist, and when he's on-call for an emergency, he sometimes has to leave in the middle of the night. As a result, Laura knew that she couldn't also have a job that required leaving in the middle of the night, as that would leave no one to take care of their baby.

"I am so very thankful to the KMOV bosses and managers for helping me make a change that works for my family," she added in her post. "This new schedule will let me continue in a career I love while also helping me be the mom Leo needs and the wife Mark deserves."

Laura also added that she recognizes that many moms aren't fortunate enough to have this flexibility, and that she's also sad to be leaving her team at News 4 This Morning.

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Laura can now be seen starting at 9:00 a.m.

While Laura's new 9:00 a.m. call time likely means she'll still have to wake up fairly early, it seems her new schedule will allow her to be more fully present for her family.

Even as she embarks on her new chapter, though, Laura also expressed gratitude for the many people she worked with on the early morning shift for her first 11 years with the network.

"We have amazing anchors, reporters, producers, directors, photographers, and editors on this shift and we are truly care about each other. If it were not for my great coworkers, why would we get up in the middle of the night and leave our own families?" she wrote in her post, adding that she loves the city of St. Louis and is exciting to continue reporting the news there.