COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — A lot happened in southwest Florida in 2024. I'm Senior Reporter Kaitlin Knapp, and I'm looking back the top 4 stories in Collier County you clicked on the most in 2024.
ALFIE OAKES' HOME AND BUSINESS RAIDS:
Out of nowhere, Fox 4 got reports that multiple law enforcement agencies surrounded the home of Alfie Oakes. He's a prominent Republican political figure, owner of Oakes Farms and Seed to Table and a donor. The Defense Criminal Investigative Service, under the U.S. Department of Defense, were investigating. However, it's still not known why they were there.
PILOTS OF DEADLY I-75 PLANE CRASH IDENTIFIED:
It was a crash that rocked the community — a community also calling two pilots heroes. In early February, a private jet crashed on I-75 in Naples. There were three passengers on board, a flight attendant and two pilots. The pilots died, but they saved everyone on board and no one on the highway was killed.
"WE'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE THE RUNWAY...":
As we started to learn more about the crash, Fox 4 was able to obtain radio traffic of the crash and what the pilots said moments before crashing on I-75. The pilot stated they lost both engines, but couldn't make it to a runway for an emergency landing. The FAA is still investigating the cause of the crash.
18-YEAR-OLD KILLED AT HOUSE PARTY:
The last story in our top 4 is a little more recent, and still unsolved. Collier County deputies have not arrested the killer of 18-year-old Deshia Arthur. She was at a Naples house party, which was a rented out Airbnb. The owner saw on their camera a party was taking place. Arthur was shot and killed as deputies were trying to get everyone to leave.
