Castanet is counting down the top stories of 2017. We'll count down the top 10 to Dec. 31 and feature our newsmaker of the year on Jan. 1.

Six people have been murdered in the Central Okanagan in 2017.

The most recent killings shocked the community when the bodies of a mother and her two young daughters were discovered in a Rutland home on Dec. 19. 

Jacob Forman, the dead woman's husband, has been arrested and charged with three counts of murder. He made his first court appearance on Dec. 21.

A candlelit memorial has been set up outside the Rutland home where Clara Forman and the couple's two daughters lived. 

Neighbours say the children were about six or seven years old, and the family was deeply religious.

A 23-year-old pregnant woman was found dead in a Kelowna orchard on Oct. 11.

The suspicious death of Russia Nicholson is still being investigated, and police have yet to identify a suspect.

Nicholson’s body was found in the orchard off the 2100 block of Cooper Road, early in the morning.

Police responded to a residence on McTaggart Road in West Kelowna on Sept. 1 and found a dead man inside.

Joel Pennell, 27, was believed to live a “high-risk lifestyle” and was well known to police.

RCMP said the shooting was a targeted attack.

The body of 23-year-old Michael Madsen was found inside a burning home on April 1.

A home on Stockwell Avenue was fully engulfed in flames and a loud explosion was heard by neighbours.

Police found Madsen dead inside the home and said it was being treated as a homicide.

Madsen's death was related to the drug trade and organized crime, the RCMP say.

Two lengthy standoffs occurred with police in the Central Okanagan during the year.

On Nov. 5, a standoff with a 35-year-old distraught man took place at Barona Beach Resort.

Michael Paul Grant barricaded himself inside his home with a weapon before police could deescalate the situation.

Grant was charged with assault with a weapon, aggravated assault and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle for an incident the night before his arrest.

Police swarmed the William R. Bennet bridge on Jan. 12 with rifles and handguns drawn.

Ryan Regan, 33, and Michael Dennison, 25, were arrested after a police cruiser chased them from Penticton to the bridge.

The vehicle was seen weaving in and out of traffic, jumping curbs and ramming a police cruiser.

Regan pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of vehicle, flight from police and assault with a weapon, and also pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property in excess of $5,000.

Regan was sentenced to three years in jail for the police chase.

Dennison, the co-accused, was given six months for dangerous driving, but after credit for time served, he will remain in jail for 75 more days.