Our team of producers shared some of our favorite segments from this past year.

Illinois Wesleyan University Professor Edgar Lehr and a team of Peruvian scientists recently discovered a previously unknown species of lizard in the Andes Mountains. But his trip was cut short when the team realized drug traffickers were nearby and had begun following their movements.

Jelani Day was a church-goer, athlete and had dreams of being a speech pathology doctor. On August 24, the Illinois State University grad student went missing. Nearly a month later, his body was identified after being found in the Illinois River. Today, we talked with his mother.