Web Sensationstop 10 Local Stories On Lancasteronline.Com ; Editor's Note: Today We Look At The Stories That Proved To Be The Most Popular In 2010 At Lancasteronline.Com, The Lancaster Newspapers Inc. Website.

Staff Writer

Patti Muldowney had no idea the underwater picture she snapped ofcolorful fish during her snorkeling dive off the coast of Aruba lastfall would become such an Internet sensation.

Then again, she didn't notice what else was on the seafloor - notat first, anyway.

It wasn't until 2010, when the Muldowneys were flipping throughthe photographs with friends, that they came upon the haunting imageof what appears to be a skeletal formation on the ocean floor.

The image fueled speculation that if they were in fact humanremains, the bones might be those of long-missing Alabama residentNatalee Holloway, whose mysterious disappearance in Aruba in May2005 continues to make international headlines.

The Muldowneys' discovery, which reached detectives handling thesensational case, reignited the search for Holloway's body.

It also turned the Muldowneys, a quiet couple from rural RaphoTownship, into an overnight media sensation across the globe.

The story - unassumingly titled "Couple finds 'skeleton' in Arubapicture" - became LancasterOnline.com's most read story of the year,data show.

On what else did online readers click?

Here's the list of the top 10 most-read local web stories of theyear on LancasterOnline.com:

10. Mysterious Death: Two people who were drinking with a manhours before he was found dead in a Reinholds apartment in July 2010were charged with physically abusing the 32-year-old after he passedout.

9. Hershey Kiss-Shaped UFO: UFO websites were buzzing in Decemberover a report of two sightings of unusual objects over EastHempfield Township. A woman said she saw a Hershey Kiss-shapedobject accompanied by two Chinook military helicopters.

8. Football Player Dies in Crash: A Manheim Central High Schoolsenior and member of the high school football team was killed whenhis car struck a house in Rapho Township in August.

7. District Judge Cited: A district judge in Intercourse wascited in September for allegedly approaching women near the stateCapitol and passing out acorns he had hollowed out and stuffed withcondoms. The citation later was dropped.

6. Caffeinated Booze: Slight girls as young as 16 and big guys intheir mid-20s were being carried into a local emergency room inOctober, drunk and unconscious due to a caffeinated, high-alcoholdrink, officials said.

5. Building Collapse: A vacant four-story building partiallycollapsed in downtown Lancaster during the morning rush hour inApril.

4. Preparing for the Worst: Emergency preparedness reportedly wasgrowing into an American subculture that some adherants claimed wasbigger than the tea party movement.

3. Authorities Seize "Stormygirl:" The Pennsylvania GameCommission in May seized a pet bird from an Elizabethtown woman whohad saved it four years earlier after it fell from a nest in heryard. The action sparked public outrage, but the commission didn'tgive in.

2. Five Die in Crash: Five people on motorcycles were killed andanother was seriously injured when the bikes collided with aHarrisburg taxi on Route 72 in June, investigators said. The taxidriver later was charged with vehicular homicide.

1. Natalee Holloway's Bones?: An underwater photo taken by aRapho Township snorkeler off the coast of Aruba appeared to showhuman remains on the ocean floor, reigniting the search for themissing Alabama teenager's body.

tmurse@lnpnews.com