HAMPTON ROADS, Va. — Our News 3 Investigative team goes beyond sharing what is happening in our region—we dig deep into issues and discover the “why.”
Our investigators interview both people in power and victims of injustice, carefully pore over court documents, and file requests to uncover essential information—all in an effort to bring injustices to light and help our viewers better understand the community we live in.
Here’s a look at the five stories from 2024 that our viewers read the most:
5: Board revokes Chesapeake dentist's license for 'dangerous' care after lifting previous revocation
News 3 investigator Jessica Larché confronted dentist Derrick Broadaway on May 17 in Henrico just moments after the Virginia Board of Dentistry voted to revoke his license to practice dentistry in Virginia.
The revocation marked the second time the board had taken the rare action against Broadaway after voting to lift his 2014 revocation in 2019. This, despite public records documenting what the board characterized as the dentist's history of “negligent and dangerous patient care”— a history Jessica began exposing and investigating 12 years ago.
“What do you have to say to your patients who’ve had pain?” Jessica asked Broadaway following the board’s vote to revoke his license on May 17.
He responded, “No one’s had any pain." However, his former patients told Jessica differently.
Her investigation outlines the frustration and health issues some of Broadaway's former patients had after receiving dental care from him. She also explains how state medical boards have a history of allowing some doctors with troubling pasts the ability to keep their licenses, and shares how you can look up disciplinary records for licensed medical professionals in Virginia.
4: Chesapeake teacher arrested for class assignment about killing a student
A class assignment to write about killing a student in a Chesapeake middle school got one teacher arrested, according to court records.
The incident happened in January 2022 inside of an English class at Crestwood Middle School in Chesapeake. News 3 learned about the arrest earlier this year after filing a Freedom of Information Request to the Department of Education regarding teachers who lost their license in the state.
The class assignment was to write “ways to kill” one particular student in the class, according to court records. It states the idea for the assignment came from another student in the class, but the teacher went along with it. Documents outline how the ideas from the students included chopping him up, throwing him out the window, burning him alive and feeding him to a dog.
3: Virginia has $2 billion in unclaimed property. Some of it could be yours.
Our investigators have been extensively covering unclaimed property in the state of Virginia.
Unclaimed property could be old utility deposits, stocks, bond dividends, insurance proceeds, and in very rare cases physical property. Companies are legally required to turn over unclaimed property to the Department of Treasury when they can’t find the rightful owner.
When we published this investigation in July, we were told the state had roughly over $2 billion in unclaimed property. However, after digging, we revealed in August that the state actually has $3.6 billion of unclaimed money.
Our investigations include speaking to people in Hampton Roads who've had issues getting their unclaimed money back. We've also spoken to lawmakers who want to make it easier for Virginians to get the money they're owed.
2: Postal employees accused of stealing over $1M in business checks
This article from News 3 Investigator Margaret Kavanagh was published only weeks ago, but it quickly caught the attention of our viewers. Her investigation looks into how three men—including two USPS employees—are accused of stealing over $1 million worth of business checks from the mail.
A federal indictment states Darnelle Concepcion was a city carrier at the Deep Creek Post Office located in Chesapeake and Quasheda Jones was a carrier in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Prosecutors allege that for a year, starting in November of 2022, they stole dozens of business checks. It states they then allegedly gave the stolen checks to Devon Drumgoole.
Records outline how "account mules" would be used, which they define as those whose names are used on accounts to deposit the stolen checks.
Data shows that although the number of employees who get in trouble for this is small, the number of cases continues to grow. Margaret's investigation also explores how leaders want to prevent this from happening in the future.
1: Customs and Border Protection finds stolen cars hidden in containers in Hampton Roads
The investigation that attracted the most eyeballs in 2024 was when U.S. Customs and Border Protection showed News 3 their operation behind the scenes.
They showed us some of the illegal items they have found in Hampton Roads, like drugs, stolen cars, faulty merchandise and heavy equipment.
At their facility in Chesapeake, which is where suspicious containers from the Port are taken, CBP showed us a shipping container packed to the brim with all kinds of random stuff. When we looked closely, hidden among the mess, we could see a Mercedes-Benz car.
They showed us all the recent stolen cars they found that were headed to either West Africa or the Middle East to eventually be resold.
CBP explained that stolen cars can be a lucrative industry. They also told us about a troubling trend: In Hampton Roads, CBP says they recovered 180 stolen vehicles in 2023, which is a 158% increase over the previous year.
