10-year-old killed in alleged murder-suicide
PANAMA CITY BEACH — Investigators with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office spent the day searching for answers that may never be known. Why Phillip Stephens decided to shoot his 10-year-old son Joshua,...
View ArticleSneads man found guilty of anthrax threats
PANAMA CITY – A Sneads resident was found guilty Tuesday afternoon on three counts of conveying false and misleading information involving the unlawful use and threatened use of a weapon of mass...
View ArticleWitness: Steven Cozzie said, ‘I just killed this chick’
DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — Michael Spencer, who spent summers in Seagrove Beach with his aunt, was best friends with Steven Cozzie during the summer of 2011. But two years earlier Spencer had lied to Cozzie...
View ArticleSpecial agent talks about retail theft
PANAMA CITY — U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Scott Springer spoke about organized retail theft at the Panhandle CrimeStoppers’ monthly meeting on Tuesday. Springer said retail...
View ArticleDCF to host elder abuse expo
PANAMA CITY — Florida’s Department of Children and Families is trying to bring attention to abused, neglected and endangered elderly adults. “Thousands of elderly adults and adults with disabilities...
View ArticleMan robs Marianna Taco Bell employees
MARIANNA -- A man robbed employees of a fast food restaurant and got away with an undisclosed amount of money just after midnight on Wednesday, a news release from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office...
View ArticleFishermen find cocaine off Destin
DESTIN — Five fishermen hauled in 25 kilograms of cocaine worth an estimated $2.5 million Wednesday in the Gulf of Mexico south of East Pass, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office. The...
View ArticleUPDATE: Church destroyed in evening fire
CRESTVIEW — Officials with the State Fire Marshal's Office are investigating a Wednesday night fire that destroyed a church on Eighth Avenue. Crews were called at 7:05 p.m. to Full Gospel Tabernacle...
View ArticleDefendant who faked his death enters plea // DOCUMENTS
PANAMA CITY — The man who apparently faked his death in Georgia and fled to Colorado to escape prosecution in Bay County pleaded Thursday to charges he came here to have sex with a minor last year....
View ArticleCozzie tapes end testimony in murder trial
DeFUNIAK SPRINGS —Assistant State Attorney Bobby Elmore let Steven Cozzie’s own words put the final touch Thursday to his case for conviction of first-degree murder. Two weeks after his arrest for the...
View ArticleCozzie guilty of murder
DeFUNIAK SPRINGS —Two days before the second anniversary of the brutal killing of 15-year-old vacationer Courtney Wilkes, Steven Cozzie has been convicted of her murder. An eight-woman, four-man jury...
View ArticleJudge says he’ll hear contempt case he charged
PANAMA CITY — The attorney for an attorney charged with criminal contempt of court scrambled to file an emergency petition with the appeals court Friday after the judge declined to disqualify himself...
View ArticleMan pleads to stealing copper
MARIANNA -- A man on probation entered a plea Wednesday to the charge of theft of copper or other nonferrous metals from a communications service provider and admitted to being in violation of his...
View ArticleMan dies after jumping from bridge
PANAMA CITY -- A man died after jumping from the Hathaway Bridge Friday evening, officials said. According to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, the man jumped into the bay from the eastbound side of...
View ArticleNiceville woman pleads no contest to Easter Sunday bicyclist death
FORT WALTON BEACH — A 28-year-old woman accused of killing a cyclist on Easter Sunday last year has pleaded no contest. Rhea Reynolds of Niceville is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 21 for leaving the...
View ArticleMan arrested after allegedly bragging about sex with teen girl
PANAMA CITY BEACH -- A Missouri man who allegedly bragged to police about having sex with a teenage girl was arrested in Panama City Beach early Saturday morning. Police received information that...
View ArticleFamily recalls near-fatal PCB vacation as ‘the best’
PANAMA CITY BEACH — Last October, the McDivitts of West Alexandria, Ohio, had the best vacation of their lives in Panama City Beach. There’s nothing like surviving a near-death experience to remind...
View ArticleDeath under investigation
PANAMA CITY BEACH -- The death of a woman at Regency Towers, 5801 Thomas Drive, Saturday night is under investigation by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. The initial call came to authorities sometime...
View ArticleMan dies after being ejected from vehicle in crash
VERNON - A man was killed in Vernon early Sunday morning after crashing his SUV and being ejected from the vehicle, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Elliott Lee Culbreath, 38, was driving his...
View ArticleJackson County man arrested after standoff
MARIANNA — A Jackson County man was arrested Sunday after a standoff in which he swung a rifle barrel at law enforcement officers and was both pepper sprayed and tased. The Jackson County Sheriff’s...
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