what would you say is the most exciting story that you've investigated and written in your career?
Hmm, did you ever hear about the Keys 12?
It was a case three years ago? Three and a half? Where, like, 5 boats were found completely abandoned in the Florida Keys, with their patrons turning up drowned a few days after the boats were found. It wasn't all at once either! It was spread over a few months, but in a weird sequence. Like, 1 happened, and then a month later it happened again, and then a week after that it happened twice in a day; followed by nothing for about 3 months (though there are conspiracies that something did happen during that time; I won't get into that now, though!), and then the final two occurrences happened within 3 days of each other.
The boats were found to be in working order, with no signs of a struggle or anything else. Only one of the boats had a camera on it, but it was facing outwards, not inwards, and it didn't do audio. So the only shot for a while was a pixelated shot of a guy just disappearing off the side of a boat, followed by two others on a misty night. Weird thing was they didn't seem distressed, more happy than anything.
I actually started covering it after the second one! So I spent a lot of time in Florida. When it cooled off during those 3 months, people kept telling me that it was over and I should just move on to the next story, but I just had a feeling it wasn't over yet, you know? Everyone had their own theories, and it couldn't be confidently said that it was serial killer-y, which meant that the theories got way out of hand. Turns out the answer was that a nearby factory that was more or less run without humans being on-site, and it was illegally burning some things together that, when released into the atmosphere, caused people to hallucinate. It was strongest right around the area of the factory, so by the time it dissipated out towards the beaches a dozen miles down the way, it was harmless. Unfortunately, those boats just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time for too long a time. The part where it was happening was known for rough water, so by the time the person ended up in the water, it was game over for them.