Tragedy, science and shopping: The most-read stories of 2023 on EastIdahoNews.com
Published at | Updated at
IDAHO FALLS — 2023 was a year of tragedy, mystery and curiosity. Here are the stories that got the most reads on EastIdahoNews.com this year, based on our analytics. Click the headlines to read the articles.
10. They fell in love backpacking through Europe then they lost each other. Here’s how they’ve ended up married for 24 years
Who doesn’t love a good love story?
When Tom Latkovic lost the woman of his dreams, he had to take action. His plan involved a unicycle and swords. And it worked.
9. Mom leaving a doctor’s appointment with her special needs son gets surprised from a Secret Santa
Since 2015, the EastIdahoNews.com team has helped a local Secret Santa give to deserving people during the holiday season. (You’ve watched all of them, right?)
This year, one of the recipients was Alesia, who has four children and a baby with special needs. Secret Santa asked us to track Alesia down and deliver an early Christmas gift.
8. ‘Baby Zeke’ found dead; father Jeremy Best taken into custody
We cover a lot of tough stories at East Idaho News. This one was especially hard.
Jeremy Best is accused of killing his pregnant wife, Kali Jean Randall, their unborn child and their 10-month-old son, Zeke Gregory Best. A follow-up on this story published on Dec. 19 gives more details on Best’s alleged crimes.
7. Doomsday family from Arizona last seen in Idaho with teen they believe is chosen of God. His father is desperate for answers.
When a teenager disappeared with his mom, sister and uncle due to doomsday prophecies, many of you expressed concern for his safety and followed this story closely. Fortunately, Blaze Thibaudeau survived the ordeal.
6. I feel guilty because when we got married, my wife has $70,000 in savings and I had a lot of debt
We run a column from financial guru Dave Ramsey every Thursday. In this particular one, Ramsey went beyond mere finances and gave marriage advice that many people may find helpful:
“When you got married, the ‘me’ and ‘mine’ became ‘we’ and ‘ours.’ You got all her stuff, the good and bad, and she got all of yours.”
(By the way, reporter Emmy Eaton interviewed Ramsey in 2022. Check out the video here.)
5. Affidavit released in Bryan Kohberger, University of Idaho murder case
Court documents in the prosecutors’ case against Bryan Kohberger were unsealed. Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in the killings of four University of Idaho undergraduate students. This is another case we’ll be keeping a close eye on in 2024. Get the latest here.
4. The ‘blue moon’ won’t be the only rare sight in the night sky this week
Things were looking up in August! We were treated not only to a bright supermoon, but Saturn made its closest and brightest appearance of the year near the moon.
3. 8 billion-year-old radio signal reaches Earth
Another space story! A mysterious blast of radio waves took 8 billion years to reach Earth. The fast radio burst is one of the most distant and energetic ever observed.
As one of you observed in the comments, “The message said, ‘We’ve been trying to reach you about your car warranty …'”
2. Lori Daybell trial and sentencing
Lori Vallow Daybell, who was charged in the deaths of two of her children, Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow, and her husband’s then-wife, Tammy Daybell, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Her jury trial in Boise lasted six weeks, and we covered it extensively. During the trial, witnesses shed more light on the tragic events that led to the deaths of her victims. Click here to see our articles during her trial.
Daybell is awaiting another trial in Arizona on charges of conspiracy to commit murder for the death of Charles Vallow, her fourth husband, and Brandon Boudreaux, her former nephew-in-law.
The jury trial of her husband Chad Daybell is scheduled to begin April 1, also in Ada County.
1. New online superstore surpasses Amazon and Walmart to become most downloaded app in US
We thought Temu was interesting enough to post about, but wow — the amount of interest in this story was incredible. And we imagine many of you either bought or received Temu gifts for Christmas!
Shortly after we published this story, reporters Kaitlyn Hart and Nate Eaton investigated the quality of items they ordered off the site.