Martin Hyde, ‘Don’t Say Gay,' Laundrie, Petito: Top 2022 Sarasota News

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — Check out some of the top Sarasota County news stories in 2022:

GOP Congressional Candidate Threatens Officer’s Job

Republican congressional candidate Martin Hyde made national headlines after being caught on police bodycam footage threatening an officer’s job over a Sarasota traffic stop.

Hyde, who lost to GOP incumbent Vern Buchanan in the August primaries, told the cop that she was “making career decisions” and to “go call the chief.”

Sarasota County Schools’ Superintendent Pushed Out

Not long after a newly conservative majority school board was sworn in at the end of November, Sarasota County Schools’ superintendent, Dr. Brennan Asplen, resigned when board members discussed firing him.

"Some of the social media posts that I have seen recently and were sent to me, I believe that everyone in our district should hear regarding the political tactics impacting education — not only in our county, but statewide," Asplen said. "This is about politics, people."

Brian Laundrie Confession, Petito Family Lawsuit

The saga surrounding van life couple Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito continues even after their death.

They were living in North Port with Laundrie’s parents before embarking on a July 2021 road trip visiting national parks through the western United States. That fall, Petito went missing, her body found strangled to death at a park in Wyoming. Laundrie also later went missing, and his remains were found in a Sarasota County park.

In June of this year, a handwritten confession found with his remains was revealed to the public.

Laundrie, who called her death “an unexpected tragedy,” wrote that they were crossing a stream at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping area when Petito fell in.

He said that he tried carrying her down the stream and back to their car but was unable to safely carry her. So, he started a fire, keeping her close to the heat because she was freezing and injured, though he was unsure of the extent of her injuries.

“When I pulled Gabby out of the water, she couldn’t tell me what hurt. She had a small bump on her forehead that eventually got larger,” Laundrie wrote. “Her feet hurt, her wrist hurt but she was freezing, shaking violently, while carrying her she continually made sounds of pain, laying next to her, she said little lapsing between violent shakes, gasping in pain, begging for an end to her pain.”

Meanwhile, their families are going head-to-head in court. In November, Petito’s parents were awarded $3 million in a wrongful death lawsuit against Laundrie’s estate.

A civil lawsuit filed by the Petito family against Laundrie’s parents will go to trial in Sarasota County next year.

Active Year for Alligators in Sarasota County

Gators grabbed headlines in Sarasota County this year. This includes a 10-foot gator snacking on a snook at Myakka River State Park in February, a man who mistook a gator for a dog at Warm Mineral Springs in June and a fatal gator attack at an Englewood golf course in July.

Naked Guy On Tractor-Trailer Disrupts I-75 Traffic

Who can forget the naked guy who climbed a tractor-trailer in July and disrupted traffic on I-75 in Sarasota County?

Sarasota Man Killed Two Women Near Tamiami Trail

Sarasota residents were on edge earlier this year after two women were killed near Tamiami Trail. Investigators eventually arrested a suspect, William Devonshire, 52, who died in jail.

Initially, DNA evidence only tied him to one of the deaths, but he was considered “a strong suspect” in the second homicide.

In October, a report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement connected him to the second woman’s death through a DNA match.

Small Plane Crashes Into Gulf Killing Family Onboard

A St. Petersburg family was killed after the small plane they were on crashed into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Venice in early December.

The pilot, Christian Kath, 42, and his wife, Misty Kath, 43, and their daughter, Lily, 12, rented a Piper Cherokee in St. Petersburg Saturday afternoon and flew to Venice. During their return trip to Pinellas County, their plane plunged into the water.

Sarasota Student Emerges As Activist Opposing “Don’t Say Gay” Law

A June graduate of Pine View School emerged as a student activist opposing Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which limits how gender, identity and sexual orientation can be discussed in the state’s public school classrooms.

Zander Moricz was the youngest plaintiff on a lawsuit filed against Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Department of Education and others over the new law.

He also grabbed headlines when his principal threatened to cut power to his microphone if he referenced his LGBTQ+ activism during his graduation speech. He found a clever way around the limitation by using his curly hair as a metaphor throughout his speech.

Hurricane Ian Hits Southern Sarasota County Hard

When Hurricane Ian pummeled the Gulf Coast at the end of September, southern Sarasota County was hit especially hard.

As the Myakka River continued to rise in the days following the powerful storm, areas like Venice and North Port were at risk of ongoing flooding. A portion of I-75 even closed because of flood waters at one point.

And while schools in the northern portion of the county reopened by early October, while south county schools didn’t welcome students and staff back until middle of the month.