Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis’ most-read news stories of 2024: From the court and courtroom to the cosmos
Totality welcomed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to loud cheers
Watch as thousands of spectators bring in totality during the total solar eclipse viewing event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
IndyStar
As many as 7 million people a month visited the IndyStar online this year and it’s my job to help reporters and editors understand what they’re reading.
These journalists give me plenty of data to work with, too, because no one covers Indianapolis like IndyStar. Through mid-December, IndyStar published more than 10,000 articles, 1,000 photo galleries and nearly 2,000 videos. That’s nearly 30 articles, three photo galleries and five videos each day (you get a lot with a subscription) and that’s not even counting the statewide and national news produced by other USA TODAY Network newsrooms across Indiana.
As we prepare to put a very newsy 2024 behind us, let’s take a look back at some of the most widely followed storylines and coverage topics of the year, in no particular order:
Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever
By the time Clark made her Fever debut, she was already a household name for many college basketball fans. But her WNBA Rookie of the Year performance took her star power to another level with fans around the country.
Clark’s skills on the court drew a lot of attention (and fouls) from her opponents, too, and her work helped the Fever reach the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
IndyStar’s Chloe Peterson put on a rookie of the year campaign of her own in 2024, covering Clark at Iowa as student and landing in Indianapolis before the WNBA Draft, just in time to cover arguably the biggest story in women’s sports this year.
Clark put on an incredible show and Peterson and IndyStar were there for it all, publishing nearly 300 articles since April and making the Fever beat IndyStar’s most-read of the year.
While Clark isn’t playing overseas or in 3-on-3 leagues this summer, Fever fans will likely have good reason to read every word again during the 2025 season. And IndyStar makes it easy, too: subscribe to the Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.
Richard Goodall on “America’s Got Talent”
Richard Goodall says community support was ‘immeasurable’ in AGT win
“I left it all on the stage,” Goodall told reporters Friday. “And not only did I try to pull through for you guys, you guys pulled through for me.”
If seeing someone live out a dream brings a smile to your face, you’ll remember Richard Goodall’s going from middle school janitor to Journey frontman for a day.
The Vigo County, Indiana, native won over judges and IndyStar readers while winning Season 19 of “America’s Got Talent” by performing Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” Michael Bolton’s “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You” and Journey’s “Faithfully,” among others.
The most memorable moment was seeing Goodall bring back his audition song, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” this time with the legendary rock band on the season finale where he won the $1 million prize.
The Indianapolis 500
It would be hard to make this list any year and say the Indy 500 didn’t belong on it, even if the results looked familiar with Josef Newgarden repeating as champion and Team Penske earning its record-extending 20th Indy 500 victory.
The didn’t mean the race was completely predictable, though. Pato O’Ward gave a challenge that Newgarden held off by a mere 0.3417 seconds and an hours-long rain delay emptied out the grandstands and pushed the race back to nearly 5 p.m.
The race was also notable for anyone following the money. Newgarden’s repeat victory earned him more than $4 million in prize money as he became the first back-to-back winner since Helio Castroneves did so in 2001-02.
The Delphi murders trial
One of America’s most haunting cases finally saw some closure in November when Richard Allen was found guilty of all four counts against him in the deaths of Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” German.
The coverage of this case also highlighted the importance of local journalists. IndyStar’s staff spent months preparing to cover this high-profile case fraught with misinformation and got assists from around the USA TODAY Network, including the expertise of Lafayette Journal & Courier reporter Ron Wilkins, who has been reporting on the case since it began.
The team of reporters and visual journalists worked through plenty of logistical hurdles to bring close-to-live updates to readers each day, detailing everything from the heartwrenching witness testimony to details about Allen’s prison confessions.
And while Allen was found guilty, he’s likely to appeal and you can count on IndyStar to follow any updates to the case.
The solar eclipse
IndyStar published plenty of words about this once-in-a-lifetime celestial event for many Hoosiers but the photo staff’s images told the story best. Bonus: This video of fans viewing totality at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Honorable mention
A few pieces of standalone coverage that resounded with readers in 2024:
Indianapolis, IN
Colts fans react to Chris Ballard, Shane Steichen keeping their jobs: ‘What an embarrassing joke’
The Indianapolis Colts have decided to keep general manager Chris Ballard and coach Shane Steichen, though the Colts lost their last seven games of the 2025 season missed the AFC playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.
The Colts do not hold a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft after sending their next two first-rounders to the New York Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner, so new leadership would have a limited impact in the short term.
Shane Steichen coaching record
- Shane Steichen: 3 seasons, 25-26 record, 0 playoff appearances. The Colts went 9-8 in 2023 and 8-9 in both ’24 and ’25. He is 2-10 vs. Houston and Jacksonville.
Chris Ballard record as Indianapolis Colts general manager
- Chris Ballard: 9 seasons, 70-78-1 record, 2 playoff appearances. The Colts went 11-5 in 2020 and 10-6 in ’18.
Reaction to Indianapolis Colts keeping general manager Chris Ballard, coach Shane Steichen
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — UPDATE: IMPD detectives with the Missing Persons Division have safely located Zohott.
Original Story
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is seeking the public’s help in locating 68-year-old Mari Zohott.
Zohott is described as standing five feet five inches tall, weighing 115 pounds, and having brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 3 on foot in the 9200 block of E. 10th Street. Zohott was last seen wearing hot pink pants and a black hoodie. Detectives are looking into the possibility that Mari got on a bus.
According to her family, Zohott is believed to have symptoms of undiagnosed early onset dementia. She may be in need of medical attention.
Investigators ask that anyone with information on Zohott’s whereabouts call 911, contact the IMPD Missing Persons Unit at 317-327-6160, or call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317.262.8477 or (TIPS).
Robert “RJ” Williams Jr.’s aunt speaks after his body recovered in White River
Patricia Madison, who identified herself as Robert “RJ” Williams’ aunt, speaks to media near where her nephew was recovered from the White River on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Broad Ripple.
Police recovered the body of a missing 16-year-old with autism Jan. 3 in the White River, a few hundred feet from the Broad Ripple McDonald’s, where he was last seen.
Emergency personnel loaded the body of Robert “RJ” Williams Jr., shielded by baby blue sheets, into the coroner’s van Saturday afternoon. Family members stood nearby, grasping each other in hugs. A ‘missing’ poster for Williams was taped to the wooden steps leading down to the water where his body was found.
“RJ was a good kid. He didn’t bother nobody,” Williams’ aunt Patricia Madison said through tears. “He loved his family, and now he’s gone.”
Police had been searching for Williams after he was last seen between a McDonald’s and a bus stop on Dec. 17 in the 1100 block of Broad Ripple Avenue, according to a missing person’s flyer. It also stated that he suffered from mood disorders and had a history of psychosis. The flier also said he had the “mentality of a 10 or 11-year-old.”
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Capt. William Carter said they do not suspect any foul play. Cameras in the area caught footage of Williams walking toward the river dock, he said. They also obtained the last message he sent, he said, where he said he was walking on the ice and sent a picture.
Around 1 p.m. on Jan. 3, an officer identified what looked to be a person under the water’s surface while conducting a drone search. A dive team and first responders then recovered the body, and family members identified him as Williams.
Capt. William Carter speaks after Robert “RJ” Williams Jr. found in White River
Capt. William Carter speaks on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Broad Ripple.
“That’s obviously a heartbreaking development in a case that has deeply affected our community. It’s not the outcome we had hoped for,” Carter said. “We do extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.”
The discovery ended over three weeks of police and community search efforts. On Jan. 2, IMPD confirmed it was shifting to a recovery process, believing he fell into the river. Detectives and IMPD’s K9s searched the area and located a backpack and gym bag belonging to the teen on a dock along White River, police said previously.
Steps away from the river, Madison said it was difficult to know they had been searching for weeks, but he was so close. She said he loved video games and was close with her son. She stressed how close she and Williams were, being both his caregiver and basketball coach, and how she was more than an aunt.
“RJ was loving, caring, and he would do anything for anybody. He didn’t like people to be bullied,” she said. “He loved his dad and his mom and his sisters, all his family very much. RJ was loved by everybody that he came in contact with.”
Now, with closure that he was found, Madison said his family will try to move on. She asked that people with relatives who have mental disabilities keep them close and make sure they are aware of their surroundings.
The case rallied many in the community. Dozens of neighbors have gathered on multiple occasions to search the area and put up posters.
“It means a lot to us because people just came out of nowhere asking to help look for him,” she said. “People we didn’t even know, never met, that was willing to help. They have literally been helping us every single day, looking for him.”
Several of those who sought to find Williams showed up to pray and give support Saturday as police retrieved his body. Debra Porter, who knew the family through school, said the neighborhood came out to uplift the family, and she said she hopes this tragedy brings the community closer.
“Our heart goes out to another mother. Our heart goes out to another family. Our hearts go out to those that are suffering. That’s where our hearts are,” she said. “We come together as one another, just embracing one another and supporting.”
The USA TODAY Network – Indiana’s coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.
Have a story to tell? Reach Cate Charron by email at ccharron@indystar.com, on X at @CateCharron or Signal at @cate.charron.28.
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