ATLANTA — Time is running out in 2022, and 2023 is almost here.
But before we leap into the new year, 11Alive is taking a look back at some of the top headlines for the year.
From breaking news, to the most incredible underdog, to impactful investigations, these were some of our most read, watched and interacted-with stories that you, our 11Alive audience, visited over the last 12 months.
Dawgs alone on top! Georgia Bulldogs win national title for first time in more than four decades
The Georgia Bulldogs overcame their nemesis Alabama in January, winning their first national championship in more than 40 years.
The Dawgs overcame a contentious late fumble call that seemed to swing momentum toward Alabama and came away with a long-coveted national title, defeating their rivals 33-18.
Re-live the moment below:
Some Atlanta residents being tracked with Apple AirTags
Tracking your lost items is becoming easier with new technology like the Apple AirTag. You can find your missing keys, wallet or purse with the press of a button.
But with the solution to one problem came the advent of another; instead of using the AirTag to track items, some are using them to track people. After police reports of unwanted tracking surfaced in Atlanta, Gwinnett County and Cobb County, some local departments took steps to educate the public. Read the February update to the original investigation here.
Triplets graduate from Georgia Tech at 18 with neuroscience degrees
Three years after being named the first-ever co-valedictorians at West Forsyth High School, the Kashlan triplets graduated in May from Georgia Tech at 18-years-old.
Adam, Zane, and Rommi Kashlan earned neuroscience degrees with minors in health and medical sciences. They completed their degrees a year early and with honors. The trio will head to Boston to work and conduct research at Harvard Medical School. Read the full story here.
Watch the original story below:
Young Thug indicted in gang-related charges
The popular rapper Young Thug was arrested in Atlanta in May, and faces a slew of accusations from Fulton County's district attorney, including that he was allegedly a founder and active leader of the violent Young Slime Life street gang.
The 80-plus page indictment charged Young Thug with gang-related crimes, and includes more than 25 others who have allegedly participated in YSL gang activity.
Pre-trial hearings for the rapper are ongoing, and a trial is expected to begin in January 2023. 11Alive's Neima Abdulahi dug deeper into the case to unravel the high-profile grand jury indictment of the rapper Jeffery Williams -- better known as Young Thug -- in the four-part series "Jeffery," now streaming on 11Alive+ and our YouTube channel.
Video shows moment explosion destroyed the Georgia Guidestones
Over the summer, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation launched an inquiry after it said "unknown individuals" detonated an explosive device at the site of the Georgia Guidestones in Elbert County.
The mysterious Guidestones were inscribed with 10 guiding principles, each etched in stone using languages from around the world. The meaning behind the mysterious 19-foot monoliths has been unclear since the structure was built in 1979. No one knows exactly what the granite slabs are doing in the middle of a cow pasture - or who who put them there more than 40 years ago.
No one has been arrested for the "act of domestic terrorism," though officials did release surveillance video connected to the explosion. Watch it below:
Relative of Oscarville resident shares history behind the city underneath Lake Lanier
Lake Lanier is a Georgia landmark, but before it became part of the state's landscape there was the town of Oscarville.
It was formed in the late 1800s during the Reconstruction era. Georgia history teacher Lisa Crosby said Oscarville was a thriving Black community full of carpenters, blacksmiths, and bricklayers, with farming as the top trade.
That was the case until 1912, when Mae Crow, a 19-year-old white woman, was found dead in the woods near Oscarville, presumably after being raped.
In July, George Rucker, a direct descendant who has traced his lineage four generations back to Oscarville, told the story of his great-grandfather, Byrd Oliver and how their entire family was forced off their land. Read the full story.
Home shaped like guitar listed for sale in Georgia gets national attention
A house on the market in Fayetteville, Georgia got national attention because of its unique design. Featured in July on the popular Instagram account "Zillow Gone Wild," the guitar-shaped home was listed for $789,000. Full details on the odd home here.
2 dead, 1 hurt in Midtown Atlanta shooting
In late August, shocking and scary moments unfolded as police combed through the heart of Atlanta, searching for a suspect who police said targeted three people, shooting and killing two of them.
Police said the suspect, Raissa Kenge, ran off after killing 60-year-old Michael Shinners and 41-year-old Wesley Freeman. Just under two hours later, she was apprehended at the Atlanta airport.
Restrained 20 times in one month. Why parents say they still can’t get their son back to class
Georgia law requires restraints to be used as a last-ditch effort to keep everyone in the classroom safe. It’s not a practice that worked for Trey.
Trey was born with fetal alcohol syndrome. It impaired his ability to control his emotions and to learn. In second grade, Forsyth County placed him in a special education classroom at Kelly Mill Elementary. It didn’t go well.
Read the full investigation from August.
'Greatest day' for family after suspect in 18-year-old's 1994 murder finally caught
The grieving loved ones of an Atlanta teen who was shot and killed nearly 28 years ago went to sleep for the first time since 1994, knowing that the fugitive who was accused of killing him is finally in jail.
The suspect was on the run all that time, wanted by the FBI and Atlanta Police, accused of killing 18-year-old Jafferd Tucker in Atlanta in 1994.
In August, sharp-eyes deputies just east of Atlanta, in Oconee County, captured the fugitive during a routine traffic stop.
Read the story here and watch the body camera video of the traffic stop below.
Migos member TakeOff killed in Houston shooting, sources say
Migos rapper TakeOff died overnight Halloween after a shooting outside a bowling alley in Houston. He was 28 years old.
Houston Police said that the rapper and fellow Migos member Quavo were both at a private party at the venue prior to the deadly shooting.
Fans of TakeOff and the wider hip hop community mourned after learning of his death, and hundreds attended a memorial service at State Farm Arena. A suspect was arrested roughly a month later.
Surveillance video showed the rapper in his final moments before the fatal shooting.
2 kids killed in shooting near Atlantic Station
Over the weekend after Thanksgiving, two kids lost their lives in a shooting near busy Atlantic Station, in the heart of Midtown.
A 12-year-old, Zyion Charles, died that same night in the incident. The second victim, 15-year-old Cameron Jackson, was initially in critical condition after the shooting before he, too, died. Four others were injured.
Police said that a large group had been escorted off the Atlantic Station property by off-duty APD officers and Atlantic Station personnel due to unruly behavior and curfew violations. Once the group moved over to 17th Street near the overpass of the Downtown Connector, an argument broke out between the group and the dispute led to gunfire on Market Street.
The shooting came at one of the busiest times for the popular shopping and entertainment destination. Shoppers in the district have been out and about for the holiday season, especially with Black Friday just concluding. Additionally, the ever-popular Cirque du Soleil shows flooded people into Atlantic Station for their events that had been playing through Dec. 24.
The shocking incident led to calls from the community to find solutions to gun violence against teens that has sharply increased in recent years.
Underdog: Stacked up against 11 coyotes, herd dog kills 8 to save sheep in Decatur neighborhood
When stacked up against a pack of 11 coyotes looking for blood, the expectation of a dog overcoming the odds to defeat them all seems insurmountable. Little did these coyotes know they were up against Casper.
Despite being only a 20-month-old Great Pyrenees, the livestock herding dog at a home in Decatur displayed his heroic actions by protecting a herd of sheep. Read the full incredible story.