Career
She is a native of Missouri and received a bachelor"s degree and master"s degree from the University of Missouri in 1988 and 1989. She has worked for a number of newspapers including the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, The Kansas City Star, a television station, KSHB, the National Broadcasting Company affiliate in Kansas City, and the city"s alternative newspaper, The Pitch. She is an investigative reporter for The Lawrence Journal World, located in the Kansas City area and home to the University of Kansas.
Dillon"s most recent investigation for The Pitch in July 2014 found that an off-duty Kansas City police officer working security who shot and killed a man celebrating his wedding made several mistakes that violated department policy.
If those policies had been followed, it is likely the shooting would never have occurred, the investigation foundation Also in 2014, Dillon worked on an investigative documentary, "The Dark State", that aired on KSHB. The documentary helped open police arrest and search warrant reports in 2014 for the first time in Kansas in 30 years.
Kansas was the only state in the country with laws that closed those records. Dillon first reported the story for The Kansas City Star in 2013, and in 2014, she was the investigative producer for "The Dark State" documentary that aired on KSHB. Dillon also was recognized by the Kansas Sunshine Coalition for her work to keep government records open.
The series "To Protect and Collect" examined a controversial police practice of keeping money seized during drug raids.
The stories revealed how police were using the federal government to hand off money they seized in drug cases. The government kept about 20 percent and returned the rest to police. Many states including Missouri prohibit police from keeping fines and forfeitures and instead send the money to education.
Dillon helped write about the finances within the National Collegiate Athletic Association and lack of gender equity.
She was named the 2010 "Journalist of the Year", by the Kansas City Press Club, for her investigation into pollution in the Lake of the Ozarks. Government officials knew levels of est coli were high but failed to warn lake visitors because of concerns over revenue loss.
Dillon graduated from the Missouri School of Journalism with an Master of Arts in journalism and political science. She is an investigative reporter for the Lawrence Journal World, a daily newspaper in the Kansas City area.