Ark. TV Anchor Gravely Hurt After Attack

A popular local TV anchorwoman who had a small part in the Bush biopic "W" was in critical condition Monday after being stabbed and beaten in her home, and police said they are investigating possible motives.

KATV anchor Anne Pressly, 26, was found about 4:30 a.m. Monday by her mother, who went to the house when her daughter didn't answer a wake-up call, Little Rock police spokesman Cassandra Davis said.

Davis said investigators are talking to Pressly's co-workers to determine whether she "has had any problems." Davis said Pressly's purse was gone and that robbery was among the possible motives being explored. Davis would not discuss specifics of what the investigation revealed.

Pressly was found unresponsive in her bed. Davis said Pressly had been beaten and stabbed severely and was in critical condition at an hospital.

Pressly appeared briefly in Oliver Stone's new movie about President Bush that opened over the weekend.

She portrays a conservative commentator who speaks favorably of President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" event on an aircraft carrier shortly after the start of the Iraq war. She won the role after being noticed by the casting director when she went to Shreveport, La., where the movie was filmed, to work on a story about it and the city's film industry.

Spokeswoman Kate Hubin for the film company Lionsgate confirmed Pressly's role but declined to comment further.

KATV's Web site notes that Pressly's most notable interview was with Vice President Dick Cheney. Traveling through an Arkansas town, she found the highway blocked in front of a hunting goods store because Cheney was inside. Pressly asked for an interview, which she conducted on the ammunition aisle.

During its 11:30 a.m. newscast, anchor Jason Pederson read a story about the attack.

"We would ask that you keep Anne in your thoughts and, especially, in your prayers," Pederson said.

Early Monday afternoon, a man answering a phone number for Pressly's mother, Patricia Cannady, said the family had no comment.

After earning her Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Rhodes College, Pressly was hired as a full-time producer and part-time reporter at KATV in May 2004, producing "Good Morning Arkansas" and reporting for "MidDay Arkansas" and "Saturday Daybreak," according to her bio on the station's Web site.