DELMARVA - Join WBOC as we take a look back at the most-read news stories of the year on WBOC.com and count down to 2025. We’ll revisit 2024’s headlines in three-month intervals to see what stories neighbors were reading most this past year.
You can read part one of this year's review here.
April 2024
Church Affiliates Charged
Outrage erupted in Wicomico County in April after three men were accused of child sex abuse in connection to a local church. Prosecutors argued Alonzo Parker, Jessie Lee Scott, and Major Leslie Purnell used their affiliation with the New Dimension Family Ministries in Salisbury and routinely had access to children there. Later that month, a fourth man affiliated with the church, Frederick Lewis Montgomery, was indicted in connection to the child sex abuse investigation.
Months later, Parker would be found guilty on multiple charges including child sex abuse.
Recreational Upkeep
April also saw the Kent County Planning Commission announcing a new project to redevelop the site of the old Diamond State Drive-In. Though Commissioners approved the former Felton drive-in as a warehouse property, Delawareans recalled fond memories of the drive-in, which permanently closed its gates in 2008.
Further south, in Sussex County, neighbors expressed their shock after human feces and needles were found in the dugouts and sheds at the Georgetown Little League ballpark.
Delaware's Plan for Plastics
A mid-month story about possible new plastic bans in Delaware was the most popular online in April. Senate Bill 263, introduced in the state legislature on April 12, would ban plastic beverage container rings (six-pack rings) and plastic used to wrap cases of water. Touted as an environmental bill to protect the ocean, some on Delmarva expressed concerns about what costs could be incurred at the checkout line should it pass.
Under a proposed Delaware law, some plastics used to package beverage containers like bottled water and six-packs of beer, could face a ban.
The bill was assigned to the Senate Environment, Energy and Transportation Committee and slated to go into effect on July 1, 2025. So far, however, it has made no headway through the larger legislative branches in 2024 according to state legislative records.
May 2024
Deadly Crashes in the Fifth Month
May’s headlines were unfortunately rife with serious and sometimes fatal car crashes. On May 15, Maryland State Police were called to the intersection of US 50 and North Main Street in Hebron where they said a Kia had drifted into a turn lane and struck the back of a box truck. The driver of the Kia, 23-year-old Elizabeth Cockey, died at the scene. Cockey was a Special Education teacher for kindergarten and first grade at the Sandy Hill Elementary School in Cambridge.
Days later in Fruitland, a Dodge Durango was allegedly driving on the wrong side of US 13 just before 3 a.m. on May 19 when the truck collided with a Subaru Impreza, according to Maryland State Police. The driver and passenger of the Subaru, 21-year-old Alexander Dennison and 20-year-old Sierra Rain Merchant, of New York, both died at the scene. The victims’ infant son was taken taken to Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore but did not survive his injuries from the crash.
The driver of the Durango, 59-year-old Jay Richard Bynum, of Seaford, would later face numerous charges including criminal negligent manslaughter by vehicle, homicide by motor vehicle while impaired, and driving under the influence.
City Manager Controversy
In Rehoboth Beach, controversy surrounded the start of new City Manager Taylour Tedder’s tenure. Rehoboth Beach offered Tedder an annual salary of $250,000, $50,000 in move-in assistance, and a $750,000 housing loan, forgiven if Tedder remains with Rehoboth Beach for seven years. Some neighbors balked at what they saw as a “lavish” compensation package. Tedder insisted, however, that his service and ability to diversify revenue would offset his salary and benefits.
Ocean City Storm
Weather towards the end of May became the top story of the month when a powerful thunderstorm tore through Worcester County. On May 24th, the storm blew the roof off of a 53rd Street condo building, scattering debris into a nearby canal. Just before hitting Ocean City, that same storm brought down a Bishopville park pavilion. Luckily, the storm left no injuries reported.
June 2024
Shocking Milford Homicides
The City of Milford was shaken to the core in early June with the shocking double homicide of a 31-year-old woman and a 3-year-old girl. On the morning of June 5, police were called to DuPont Blvd on reports of a man bleeding from his head. After meeting with him, investigators said they were prompted to respond to a home on Pebblebrook Drive in the Brookstone Trace Development, where they found Mercedes Ortiz and Aloni Truong dead. The suspect, Davis Truong, 31, was charged with two counts of first degree murder.
Cases of Misconduct and Monetary Misdeeds
Crime continued to dominate local news in June, with a Lewes man facing his ninth home improvement fraud charge in just seven years. In Maryland, a State Trooper in Wicomico County was indicted on charges of illegally intercepting oral communication and misconduct.
Towards the end of June, the mother of fatal hit-and-run victim Gavin Knupp was charged with embezzlement. Prosecutors claimed Tiffany Knupp used funds from the Gavin Knupp Foundation, which she started in the wake of her son’s death, to pay for her lawyer in her divorce proceedings. Officials also said Knupp had deposited other funds meant for the non-profit into her personal accounts.
Knupp would eventually reach a plea deal and was removed from the Gavin Knupp Foundation.
Rockfish Regulations
(WBOC).
June also saw a shakeup in the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s (DNREC) striped bass regulations. In order to comply with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Atlantic Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan, DNREC reduced the regulation size limit of allowable striped bass catches from between 20 and 25 inches to 20 and 24 inches. ASMFC was already being challenged in Maryland by watermen who said the new regulations in the Chesapeake Bay. Delaware’s new regulation limits were slated to last only the summer, from June to August 31, 2024.
Delaware Skimmer Scares
Finally, a small-town skimmer scandal took the top spot in June’s headlines. After allegedly discovering a credit card skimming device at a local Dollar General, neighbors in Felton raised the alarm on purchasing security. The reported discovery of another device just days later at a Dollar General in Georgetown did little to reassure shoppers. Police at the time could not speculate if the two incidents were connected, but asked card-users to exercise caution and report any suspicious behavior or activity on their bank statements.
