BBQ Becky, Starman and more: Updates on stories that made headlines in 2018

The news cycle moves so fast these days, it's tough to remember all the stories that happened in 2018.

It seems like well over a year since we all witnessed the launch of Starman. The dummy behind the wheel of a cherry-red Tesla was sent hurtling toward Mars via SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket in February — yes, Feb. 6, 2018 — and was last seen with a larger-than-life background of a blue-green earth.

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See? In the span of a year, it's easy to lose track of the stories that dominated headlines at any given moment. With the space of time, the stories we were all talking about earlier this year have continued to evolve ... with one quite literally moving past Earth's own orbit since it was first written about.

But we're here to help tie up some of those loose ends (at least as much as one can, with a moving target). SFGATE took time to track down what has happened after some of 2018's biggest headlines have moved off our homepage.

From the aftermath of one of 2018's biggest racial incidents caught on video this year — later going viral and becoming hashtagged online as #BBQBecky — to the capture of a former police officer believed to be a prolific California serial killer in the 1970s and '80s, here are updates on some of the headlines we saw last year.

Read Dianne de Guzman's latest stories and send her news tips at ddeguzman@sfchronicle.com.

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