Top July Stories: Thief Returns Stolen 9/11 Flag, Plane Lands On Highway Twice, Arrest in Murder of Medford Mom

More than 1 million people visited Patch’s Long Island sites in July. Here’s a rundown of the top-10 most read stories across the island for the month (click the links to read the full stories):

Stolen Flag That Flew Over Ground Zero Returns Home

I am so sorry. I had no idea.

Those were the words written on a note that accompanied a neatly folded American flag that was left on a Huntington Station doorstep sometime overnight Thursday.

The flag, which flew over Ground Zero following 9/11, had been stolen from a flagpole at the home of Melissa Ielpi-Brengel earlier this week.

Ielpi-Brengel’s brother Jonathan Ielpi, a firefighter with FDNY Squad 288 in Queens, died on 9/11, and the flag was one of many given to 9/11 families to fly outside their homes between Memorial Day and July 4, and again on Sept. 11.

Pilot Lands Same Plane on Sunrise Highway For Second Time in a Week

A week ago, Frank Fierro was forced to land his single-engine plane on Sunrise Highway after experiencing engine trouble.

On Friday afternoon, Fierro, 75, took the ultralight Challenger plane back to the air for the first time, but more engine trouble after taking off from Lufker/Spadaro Airport once again forced him to put the plane down on Sunrise Highway in East Moriches, police said.

Fierro, who is from Lake Ronkonkoma according to FAA records, landed the plane safely on the eastbound side of the highway at about 12:50 p.m. and he was able to move the plane to the right shoulder, police said.

Police: Mastic Man Charged in Murder of Medford Mom

Nearly a month after the body of Sarah Goode was found in the woods in Medford, Suffolk police have made an arrest in the death of the Medford mother.

Dante Taylor, of Mastic, was arrested in Florida by Suffolk County Police Homicide detectives and U.S. Marshals on Thursday on an unrelated warrant, police said.

Taylor, 19, was transported to Suffolk County Police Headquarters in Yaphank, where he was charged Saturday with second-degree murder for killing Goode, who had a four-year-old daughter, police said.

Levittown Man Charged With Manslaughter in Crash That Kills Passenger

A Levittown man is charged with manslaughter after authorities say he was drunk at the wheel during a crash early Tuesday that killed his passenger, according to New York State Police.

Cops said Brian Friedrichs, 22, was driving west on the Northern State Parkway near Post Avenue when he lost control of the car at about 4 a.m. The gray Mazda flipped several times and ejected Friedrichs and his passenger, Christopher Gallina, 23, also of Levittown, cops said.

Coast Guard: Aircraft Reported Down in Long Island Sound

The pilot of a small plane that went down in the Long Island Sound Monday morning was killed in the crash, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound command center received a report from another aircraft operating in the vicinity of a possible downed aircraft at about 8:50 a.m., according to a Coast Guard press release.

The aircraft that crashed several miles north of Mattituck Inlet was described as a small, white, fixed wing, single-engine plane, the Coast Guard said.

Police: Pair Walking to Ferry Discover Dead Body in Bay Shore Parking Lot

Police are investigating the discovery of a “partially dismembered” body in a Bay Shore parking lot Tuesday morning.

Third Precinct officers responded to a municipal parking lot on Gibson Street, just east of Maple Avenue, at 6:50 a.m. after two people who were walking to the ferry reported finding the female body.

Related: Cops: Brooklyn Woman Murdered Housemate, Spread Body Parts Across LI

Cops: Lifeguard Discovers Non-Human Remains in Water

A lifeguard made a gruesome discovery while at work on the South Shore Friday, according to Nassau County Police.

Detectives said the lifeguard was working on the bay side of Tobay Beach when he found organs floating in the water. The lifeguard called the police, who responded with medical technicians to investigate, cops said. The beach was temporarily evacuated while Seventh Squad and Homicide detectives could further investigate, cops said.

The lifeguard made the discovery at 12:46 p.m., cops said.

Nassau County Medical Examiners determined the remains were not human.

Police: Man Leaves 2-Year-Old Daughter in 120-Degree Car While Shopping

A Maryland man was arrested Thursday afternoon after he left his 2-year-old daughter inside a car while he shopped at a Huntington Marshalls store, police said.

The girl was lethargic and not speaking when she was removed from the car after officers broke the window of the 2000 Nissan Frontier in the parking lot of the Big H Shopping Center, located at 839 New York Avenue, around 12:30 p.m., police said.

A person walking through the parking lot had called police after hearing a child crying and noticing the girl inside the car, which was not running with its windows closed at the time, police said.

Police: Dix Hills Teen Charged With Assaulting Mother, Brother Found Dead

A Dix Hills teen is charged with assault after his mother was found unconscious with severe head injuries at their home Saturday evening and police are investigating the death of the teen’s 15-year-old brother.

According to police, Second Precinct officers responded to 3 Norman Court after Charles Okonkwo, 62, called to report that he had just returned home from a hospital stay and discovered his son, Bradley Okonkwo, 15, dead and his wife, Chinwe Okonkwo, 52, unconscious.

The couple’s other son, Charles Okonkwo, 18, appeared to have fled the scene in a green 2002 BMW X5, police said.

A Day After Party, Queens Woman Found Drowned in Dix Hills Pool

A Queens woman drowned in a backyard swimming pool in Dix Hills, authorities said Sunday.

Suffolk County police said residents of the home at 2 Polo Street were cleaning up the backyard following a party that occurred on Saturday, when, at approximately 2:40 p.m. today, they noticed a body in the deep end of the backyard pool.

Second Precinct police officers responded following a 911 call from a resident, and pulled Rajkumari Motwani’s body from the water at the home at the corner of Commack Road, police said.