MyRGV.com’s top 10 stories: Here’s what you read the most in 2024

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The past year has been a bit of a roller coaster, hasn’t it?

Here in the Rio Grande Valley we’ve reported on tragedy. We’ve reported about the impacts of the water crisis and Mexico’s water debt. There’s been changes and shakeups at school districts.

Oh, and let’s not forget, the Valley across the board voted for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who was the target of an assassination attempt while on the campaign trail and who is now president-elect.

In fact, you can say it’s been a whirlwind of a year in news.

As we close out the year and head into the holidays, our editorial team has been reflecting on all the news we worked to bring to our readers in 2024.

We wanted to know: What matters to you? With that in mind, we took a look at what you read the most on MyRGV.com, our website powered by reporters at The Monitor, Valley Morning Star and The Brownsville Herald.

And those stories aren’t necessarily what we may have expected, but it is the news you consumed.

The following will revisit those most-read stories on MyRGV.com. We have not tweaked the top 10 stories with the exception of combining one breaking story that appeared in the top 10 on three different occasions. That story — over one terrible tragedy — was the most read.

TEENS AND ALCOHOL

The news broke over a weekend.

On Saturday, Aug. 16, reports came trickling in to reporters and surfacing all over social media.

Adan De La Cruz, a 17-year-old senior and football player at Nikki Rowe High School, slipped off a roof while attempting to jump into a pool at a party at approximately 11:39 p.m. in the 4700 block of North Bentsen Road in McAllen.

The young man hit his head, was hospitalized and on Aug. 21, he died.

The accident sent shockwaves throughout the Valley and as we worked to find out how this happened through calling law enforcement and school district officials we learned that an adult — Jaime Islas, 51 — hosted a party where alcohol was furnished to minors.

As Islas and several other young people were arrested in the case, we filed Texas Public Information Act requests to obtain probable cause affidavits further flushing out what happened the night De La Cruz slipped off that roof.

Those affidavits showed tickets were sold to the party, which was advertised on social media.

The story, however, is not over as the case against the suspects remains ongoing. This terrible — preventable — tragedy was the most read story of the year.

A GOOD BREAK-UP

Working in news means being in touch with the seasons that come and go each year.

And in March, we noticed headlines splashing across the screens of our phones that said the city of Miami was breaking up with Spring Break.

So we asked ourselves: What does that mean for South Padre Island?

Well, Blake Henry, executive director of the SPI Convention & Visitor Bureau, explained that while he understood Miami’s reasoning, that reasoning was also an opportunity for the Island.

“We take the complete opposite view,” Henry told a reporter. “We welcome spring breakers and recognize the value that they bring to our community as far as the economic dollars that are associated with their business.”

So while Miami wants to end its relationship with spring breakers, the Island wants to get more serious.

This was the second most-read story of the year.

DELIA’S RAIDED

In late July, a reporter who had been covering a federal wage theft lawsuit against the beloved restaurant Delia’s Tamales received an early morning tip: Federal agents were set to raid the establishment.

The reporter acted by staking out the restaurant’s McAllen location and waiting.

The tip was good. In short order, FBI agents descended on Delia’s Tamales at 3400 N. 10th St. in McAllen.

As the reporting unfolded, we learned that the raids weren’t limited to that location and stretched as far as San Antonio.

It’s still unclear what the FBI is investigating. The agency is notoriously tight-lipped (rightly so) about its law enforcement activity.

This was the third most read-story of the year.

HEALTHCARE FRAUD

In early March, the verdict came in after seven days of trial over two weeks in McAllen federal court: A McAllen doctor and an Edinburg medical assistant were convicted following three hours of jury deliberations in a multimillion dollar healthcare fraud scheme.

Osama Nahas, 69, was convicted of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, healthcare fraud and conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute.

Isabel Pruneda, 53, was also convicted of those charges, as well as an additional count of identity theft.

The duo were convicted of taking illegal kickbacks after ordering unnecessary prescriptions and lab tests. They still have not been sentenced.

This was the fourth most-read story of the year.

THE PHARMACY TREE

As we continue to grow our digital footprint, we have started to publish our community news on MyRGV.com.

These are items you’ll find in our e-editions and print editions that are submitted by members of the community — a deep-rooted tradition in local journalism.

One such submission came from Barbara Stortz, a local horticulturist who writes about plants that grow well in South Texas and a longtime contributor.

This submission was about Moringa oleifera, known as the “Tree of Life” in the Bible and in modern times referred to as the Miracle Tree or a super food, which has been utilized for thousands of years to improve health.

This was the fifth most-read story of the year.

‘SERIOUS SITUATION’

In late September, one of our former colleagues was sitting in the McAllen International Airport when airport staff told them there was a complete shutdown of the airport with no planes landing or leaving.

They were told all inbound flights were diverted to Valley International Airport in Harlingen and that there was a two-hour ramp closure in effect due to a “serious situation.”

While speculation abounded on social media that a plane had crashed, that was untrue.

One of our reporters working the story eventually got a hold of McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez, who said there were no injuries and that a single-engine aircraft “lost a tire while taxiing.”

This was the sixth most-read story of the year.

KANSAS MAN

We routinely scour local, state and federal crime records in search of stories that are of interest to the community.

This one was one that — unfortunately — we write about too frequently.

In early November, a Kansas man was charged after Border Patrol agents at the Falfurrias checkpoint discovered 24 people in the country illegally, including a 4-year-old boy, inside a 35-degree refrigerated trailer.

The suspect was charged with knowingly and with reckless disregard transporting people illegally present in the U.S.

The suspect — Robert Monkel — has since been indicted and has pleaded not guilty.

This was the seventh most-read story of the year.

A SWEET STORY

We might have milked this one a bit.

In late November, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials seized 34,286 pounds of sweetened condensed milk after discovering it hadn’t been certified by the Mexican government.

CBP initially encountered the tractor-trailer carrying the load at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge on Oct. 28.

In all, 18 pallets carrying 48 boxes of 864 containers of sweetened condensed milk that posed a risk of foot and mouth disease were destined to be destroyed.

This was the eighth most-read story of the year.

FIFTY-NINE PEOPLE

In late April, a tractor-trailer hauling oranges that was destined for San Antonio arrived at the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint.

During a routine inspection, a K-9 alerted to the vehicle.

A search of the trailer revealed 59 people who were in the country illegally.

The driver — Jorge Javier Gonzalez — was placed under arrest and declined to speak with Homeland Security Investigations special agents.

He has since pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison.

This was the ninth most-read story of the year.

FORMER COP

Longtime fugitives occasionally get tired of living on the run.

Such was the case for Jose Omar Garcia, 44, who was arrested at the Roma port of entry in early June.

Garcia is a former Roma police officer who spent a decade on the lam in Mexico avoiding federal drug charges levied against him in a scheme that lasted between 2006 and 2010.

Garcia and his brother, Roel Roberto Garcia, 51, also a former Roma police officer, were part of a conspiracy to distribute more than 2,000 pounds of marijuana.

Both brothers, however, beat the charges.

In late November, the government filed a motion to dismiss the charges, which a federal judge granted.

“The case against the defendants is almost fifteen years old. Unfortunately, with the passage of time, key evidence needed to convict the remaining defendants in this cause is no longer available,” prosecutors said in a motion to dismiss. “As such, prosecution no longer serves the interests of justice.”

This was the 10th most-read story of the year.