The Party
Alonzo Brooks was twenty-three years old when he was convinced by friends to attend a party for someone he didn’t know, that was fifty miles away from his house. His friend, Justin Sprague came to pick him up that night, with the plan to meet their other friends at the party later. Justin came in to say hi to Alonzo’s mom while Alonzo put his shoes on. Alonzo also put on a skull beanie, something he always wore, before the two left for the party.
The drive was longer than they thought it would be but we were excited to go nonetheless. Neither one of them had ever been to this part of Kansas before and as they drove, it became more and more rural. There were cornfields and farms which were different for the friends, as they lived in the suburbs.
Their friends were already at the party when they got there, and again, it was way more country than they were used to. People wore cowboy hats and everything. There were over a hundred people at the party and the friends only knew five or six people there. Something to note is that Alonzo is one of three Black men at the party. In later interviews, party guests will say that there was racial tension at the party. Some reported that they heard racial slurs being thrown around, but that Alonzo either didn’t hear or didn’t care.
Alonzo was a really friendly guy and was able to fit right in and didn’t even flinch at the tension that others felt. It seemed like he was having a good time. But once his friends started to leave, things went awry. Justin wanted cigarettes so he left, but he made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up getting lost about thirty miles away. Not wanting to go back to the party, Justin said that he called his friend, Adam, who was still at the party and asked him to drive Alonzo home. Justin said he could hear Alonzo in the background giving Justin a hard time and making fun of him for getting lost.
So, Justin decided to go home. Later on, Adam will say that he went to get Alonzo to go home, but people said that he already left, so he also went home without Alonzo.
The Next Morning
Alonzo’s mom, Maria Ramirez went to wake him up the next morning and found that his bed was still made, so he hadn’t slept in his bed. She called his name and searched the house, but he wasn’t there. She began calling his friends to see if anyone had seen him. It was unprecedented that he hadn’t come home, he was responsible and the kind of guy to always check in with his mom, he wouldn’t have stayed out all night without letting her know.
No one had seen him or knew where he was so she went to the police to file a missing person’s report. However, she was told that he had to be missing for forty-eight hours to do so.
Alonzo’s best friend, Rodney, and Justin drove up to where the party was to look around. Almost immediately, they found his shoes and his beanie. However, they were then kicked off the property. Rodney said that he felt weird in that area like everyone was looking at him. He didn’t feel welcome.
They went to the sheriff’s department in La Cygne, where the house was, and got told the same thing, that he had to be missing for forty-eight hours before they could file a report. The police said he was probably walking around somewhere, but this seemed unlikely. And how would he without his shoes?
The Search
For the next eleven days, the property was searched extensively, but absolutely no evidence was found. Eventually, the case was passed on to the KBI (Kansas Bureau of Investigations) and hundreds of interviews were conducted.
A lot of what is said in these interviews has been withheld for investigative purposes, but it was brought up that the town is historically, very racist. Polygraph tests were also done, but by that point, a lot of people from the party had gotten lawyers and refused the test.
Continuing the Search
Alonzo’s family begged the police department to let them look for themselves, but they were denied for nearly a month. Finally, though, they were allowed to go to the property and search for him.
After less than thirty minutes, Alonzo’s uncle, Edward Ramirez, found his body by the creek. The family was understandably heartbroken, but this brought up a lot of questions.
How had they searched the property so thoroughly, but never found Alonzo’s body six hundred and fifty feet from the house? Where had his body been this whole time? The police department said that the body had not been there when they initially looked.
His body was barely decomposed and his coloring looked like he might have still been alive, his personal articles were still in perfect condition, not like they had been in a lake for a month.
The autopsy revealed very little information, the doctor could not tell how he had died or when. His body was decomposed enough to not be able to tell how he had died, but there was no significant damage that couldn’t have been caused by just being in the creek.
However, in later years, the doctor doing the autopsy, Dr. Eric Mitchel, is fired for mishandling things and improperly storing body parts, which called into question the properness of the autopsy that was done.
Rumors
Rumors also began to go around the town, specifically that Alonzo’s death was a homicide and was a hate crime. People said that a white girl was flirting with him that night and that he was jumped by a group of white guys.
The case was closed eventually because the police had no leads and no idea what happened to Alonzo, but in March of 2019, the case was reopened by the FBI and they offered $100,000 to anyone who would come forward and give information.
Alonzo’s friends and family are sure that he was targeted because of his race. Maria said that she is Mexican and that his father is black. They saw the color of his skin, and that’s why they went after him.
At this point, the only hope is for people who were present at the party to come forward and share what they know. These people would be close to forty now, perhaps their conscience has been weighing on them, maybe they saw things differently when they were younger and they have perspective now. Hopefully, one-day Alonozo’s family will get justice and peace.