New Information Surfaces in the Alonzo Brooks Case
On the evening of April 2, 2004, Alonzo Brooks rode with his friend Justin to a party at a farmhouse in LaCygne, Kansas. This small, rural town is about 45 miles away from Gardner, Kansas where Alonzo was living with his mother. The party turned out to be a festive night, where Alonzo was said to have been having a great time by his friends. As the night went on, Alonzo’s friends started to leave the party and assumed that someone would give Alonzo a ride back home. However, Alonzo never made it back home and his mother noticed that he was not home the next morning, which was not in his character.
Alonzo’s mother followed up with his friends, questioning why they left him at a party with people he didn’t know, considering he was one of the few Black people at the party. Thereafter, Alonzo’s friends and family raced to La Cygne to search for him, but found only his boots and hat in the weeds across the road from the long driveway to the farmhouse. Nobody at the farmhouse or in the small-town claimed to have seen Alonzo. Rumors quickly surfaced that racial slurs and threats were tossed around at the party after Alonzo’s friends left…that Alonzo was flirting with a white girl and was dragged or chased down the driveway and murdered…that he was beaten to death…that he went swimming in the nearby creek and drowned.
The search for Alonzo did not immediately provide results. Law enforcement searched multiple areas, but Alonzo did not turn up. It wasn’t until a month after law enforcement searches died down that Alonzo’s family decided to put on their own search. They found Alonzo within 30 minutes of starting their search. He was in a creek, which law enforcement said they had thoroughly searched previously. Even though Alonzo had been missing for a month, his family and friends noticed that there was not much decomposition to his body, thus fueling rumors that maybe his body had been previously frozen. The coroner who assessed Alonzo’s body was not able to confirm a cause or manner of death at the time.
The last update came in July of 2020, when Alonzo’s body was exhumed from his grave. Now, on November 13th 2020, the FBI has released another update. Through new interviews and eyewitness accounts, the FBI has learned that there was a second party happening that night, not far from the party Alonzo had attended. Party goers say an altercation took place at the second party, and many people from that event later attended the farmhouse gathering, where Alonzo Brooks was last seen alive. The FBI is now asking for information from anybody who attended either party, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. They are offering a $100,000 reward for tips that lead to the arrest, prosecution, and conviction of the individual or individuals responsible for Alonzo’s death.
If you have any information regarding the death of Alonzo Brooks, please contact the FBI at 816-512-8200 or tips.fbi.gov. Or submit a tip to unsolved.com/tips. If you’d like to familiarize yourself with Alonzo’s case, the episode is now streaming on Netflix at https://www.netflix.com/title/81026055.
16 Comments
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Jason
So sad nothing has happened still…that whole damn town knows who did that and you won’t convince me otherwise. Justin definitely knows more too.
Luna
Se habló de que Alonso no tenía ninguna herida visible ni en los rayos X, pero no mencionaron sobre su lesión en la pierna derecha. De haber seguido con vida tras la fiesta y antes de encontrar su cuerpo probablemente las heridas por la golpiza que le dieron pudieron haber sanado al punto de no ser visibles o por completo, pero la policía se fue por lo más complicado y pensaron que sufrió alguna clase de tortura o lesión por algún objeto. ¿Alguien revisó si sufrió de algo más “biológico” como la desnutrición? ¿Le realizaron un examen toxicológico para ver si tenía algo extraño? ¿Entrevistaron a los padres de los supuestos chicos que asistieron a la fiesta? ¿Trataron de recrear la secuencia de eventos para determinar al menos una hora aproximada de cuando desapareció de la fiesta? ¿Cómo estuvo el clima durante ese tiempo donde el arroyo estaba profundo? ¿Llovió durante las semanas después que realizaron la primera búsqueda? ¿Revisaron el interior de ese supuesto hangar que quitaron tiempo después de la investigación?
Ashley Tinney
This makes me sick, Justin & the other friend i feel like know more than what is being said.. no one at this point was ever able to find out how they heard about that party ? No one was able too figure out whos house they were at , and how long did it take for them too move outta that house ? Why are they covering up for 40-50 people ? Why is law enforcement not releasing any of those kids names ? Or the result of any of the interviews ?? How does the fbi not know any of their names if in the episode they said they interviewed and gave lie dector tests too a bunch of kids there ?? What friend did justin think alonzo was with ? What happened to him and why are we not tracking him down for more answers ? He had to at least be able to verify one name from the party. What we have to do is fight for that information for Alonzo. This case keeps me up !!
Bravo655
Ashley did you actually watch the episode or just hear about it? You make so many incorrect statements that I have to wonder if you made them simply to cover up and confused everybody else. They know who’s house it was they know who the four guys are that rented the house they had polygraphs they interviewed people they search the buildings. Of course, they cannot put the names out on TV because these folks were juveniles and or not named as persons of interest in the case if they put their names out, they would be looking to add a libel case. Of course somebody from that town knows who did it where they put his body how they kept it hidden and went, and where they moved it when police were searching for him. They interview the diveteam, master, who clearly states that the body was not where it was found when his team searched that creek that creek was less than 3 feet high and boggy. Whoever did that killing is probably in there 50s or 60s by now. I would bet that the mayor of the town himself knows who was at that party. What still baffles me is there is a reward of $100,000 from the FBI for information on this case that leads to a conviction. Who in their right mind would want to live in that shat hole of a town when a simple statement, etc. to the FBI would get them $100,000 and they can move anywhere they want.
Clara
what about the first argument when his friend went between them? wasnt there already a problem because of a girl and his apparent boyfriend? why does anybody talk about it anymore? you remember? was right at the beginning of the party just before the first friends of Zo have left…
Anonymous
This case is confusing considering that there were so many people at this party. So many eyes. Then it took 16 years for evidence of another party happening in the nearby area, on the same night, but was never mentioned back then. I find that very hard to believe. I also find it hard to believe that the person that Zo had an altercation with was never questioned or the girl that was supposedly involved. I also would like to know the names of the 4 people that were renting the house at the time of the party but later got evicted. One of them on the lease was apparently from Gardner. Who is that?? Were they questioned? Obviously, I am sure some information is not disclosed to the public to protect certain criteria to protect the case. What is also confusing to me is some of these simple questions about who was renting that house? Where was the party that was happening around the same time before or around the time of the party Zo was attending? Was anyone contacted at that other party and questioned? Someone knows something. I do not feel enough digging has been done. It makes me uncomfortable, the lack of investigation. Instead of requesting the people from the party or parties to come forward, how about taking the initiative and start with literally any one person that may have attended those parties and start there and dive into all of the things. I get that it’s a lot of man hours to do something like that with so many people involved but every single one of them should be a suspect until justice is served! Nothing is more frustrating than being half assed, especially when it comes to a person’s life. The people involved in this case, even people that have information that were there that night, and honestly you know who you are, that are either to scared or whatever the reasoning, who probably have a family and children now. CAN YOU IMAGINE IF THAT WAS YOUR CHILD? My goodness, how do you sleep at night. It doesn’t matter how many years have gone by. This case is still unsolved and if you know something and are not bringing it to light, I feel sorry for where you will end up in the afterlife. It won’t be good. Make it right. Speak up, speak the truth. It’s never too late to make a difference.
T
I agree, seems like there is a cover up going on here. Good place to start is check camera footage of nearby grocery stores where people may have purchased alcohol for the party. Question ANYONE you see on camera buying alcohol that night or the night before. Don’t come at it soft like “were you at the party?” No you go, “so, you were at the farmhouse party the night Alonzo is suspected to have been murdered and we have evidence so fess up and we might be able to get you a plea deal instead of being charged for withholding I formation.”
T
The 48 hour rule is literally THE stupidest thing ever. That’s like throwing a bone to criminals.
Wander
Sou do Brasil e acabei de observar esse caso, como ninguém pensou em fazer uma ligação entre todas as pessoas da festa com as autoridades da cidade? Com certeza quem fez isso tinha ligação forte com o policiamento da cidade, investiguem novamente, puxem o nome de todas pessoas que estavam na festa e pode ter certeza que irá encontrar algum jovem parente da polícia ou até mesmo do prefeito… Eles enrolaram a busca com o FBI, esconderam o corpo do pobre jovem, e quando viu que não tinha outra forma e à decomposição começou a ficar forte, eles liberaram a família para buscar e deixaram lá!
L
This case is soo weird, so many things to be done and nothing. No interviews, no polygraph… I’m happy that this case re-opened.
I can’t stop thinking why we don’t know anything about the guy who was supposed to drive him back home? And what about his boots and beanie? They were found near his home, clearly the person who did it knew him or knew where he lived. They put that there so it can be found as they did with the body.
This was clearly racist. They should’ve looked for him through all LaCygne, not only the creek. But they didn’t care.
Megan
This girl that he was talking to at the first party, was she interviewed? Would she know the individuals that were upset about their interaction? Also, this shed that one of the volunteers mentioned, do we know if that was searched?
Anonymous
my theory, 100% foul play. I do believe he must’ve flirted with some girl who had a bf (or other way around, she flirted with him) and that is why he was invited to the other ‘gathering’;which is where they did something to him, stuffed him in a fridge and waited to dump his body once they heard his family was doing a search.where his boots and hat were found must’ve been an attempt to throw off the police. there’s just no way after so many thorough investigations done by FBIs and KBIs(I don’t think KBI really bothered looking for him tho) that they didn’t find him??and not even 1 hour into the search by his family… he was found??. ANOTHER, after the first party he could’ve asked the wrong person for a ride back home; where he was lured to that ‘farmhouse gathering’ and killed by a racist cowboy.
Alex-George Zghibolt
I’m 100% sure that people from that police station covered up that murder because the town was very rasist at that time and wanted to protect their own. I’m sure they were saying like :”who the heck is this guy, just a guy from a different town that is black anyway, who cares, we must protect our own”. I mean like, it’s impossible to not find anything, there were 40-50 people and a different party that was close, and people refusing to take the poligraf, and the police was just like, it’s fine. Dr. Erik Mitchell, this guy was cooperating with the police as well, and of course his limited knowledges, as we know that he was forced to resign in 1993 from his Syracuse practice via New York Times. I think that the guy had just some general knowledge, he was not that good to really identify his cause of death, when he died, if he was hold in another place and moved there after the police stopped to search for him.
BRUNO
Should investigate the people who argued with Alonzo at the party
kareem
i wondering Why were not descriptions of the person who quarreled with Alonzo during party and his friend stand between them so ask him about his descriptions.
Andrew
Can’t believe its been this long with a viable suspect(s).