Mary Alice Mapes (born May 9, 1956) is an American journalist, former television news producer, and author. She was a principal producer for CBS News, primarily the CBS Evening News and primetime television program 60 Minutes Wednesday. She is known for the story of the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal, which won a Peabody Award, and the story of Senator Strom Thurmond's unacknowledged biracial daughter, Essie Mae Washington. In 2005, she was fired from CBS for her part in the Killian documents controversy. Early life Mapes was born on May 9, 1956, in the state of Washington. Growing up with four sisters in Burlington, both of her parents were Republicans. After graduating from Burlington-Edison High School in 1974, Mapes studied communications and political science at the University of Washington. Following her time at the UW, she worked at CBS affiliate KIRO-TV in Seattle during the 1980s. While a producer there, she met her future husband, KIRO reporter Mark Wrolstad. They married in 1987. At CBS In 1989, Mapes went to work for CBS News in Dallas, Texas. She was hired by CBS in 1999 as a producer assigned to Dan Rather and the program 60 Minutes Wednesday. At 60 Minutes Wednesday, Mapes produced the story that announced the US military's investigation of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, and the story that exposed Strom Thurmond's unacknowledged bi-racial daughter, Essie Mae Washington, winning a Peabody Award in 2005 for the former. Killian documents controversy Mary Mapes produced a segment for 60 Minutes Wednesday that aired criticism of President George W. Bush's military service, supported by documents purportedly from the files of Bush's commanding officer, the late Lieutenant Colonel Jerry B Killian. Those documents had been delivered to CBS from Bill Burkett, who was a retired Lt. Colonel with the Texas Army National Guard. During the segment, Dan Rather asserted that the documents had been authenticated by document experts, but ultimately, CBS could neither confirm nor definitively refute their authenticity. Moreover, CBS did not have any original documents, only faxed copies, as Burkett claimed to have burned the originals. The 60 Minutes report charged that Bush, the son of an ambassador, congressman and future president, had received preferential treatment in passing over hundreds of applicants In applying to the Texas Air National Guard. Then-Texas Lieutenant Governor Ben Barnes said he had made phone calls to get Bush into the Guard. After