The death of Alonzo Brooks
La Cygne, Linn County, Kansas · April 3, 2004
A young Black man was left without a ride at a farmhouse party of a hundred people in rural Kansas and was found a month later in the creek beside the house — and seventeen years on, a federal exhumation turned an "undetermined" death into a homicide with no one charged.
Overview
On the night of April 3, 2004, Alonzo Brooks, a 23-year-old from Gardner, Kansas, went with friends to a party at a farmhouse on the outskirts of La Cygne, about an hour south. Roughly a hundred people were there; he was one of only three Black men among them, and witnesses later told authorities he was harassed because of his race. His ride left without him. He never came home. His boots and hat were found in the weeds across from the farmhouse, but searches by the Linn County Sheriff's Office, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the FBI turned up nothing. On May 1, 2004, his family organized its own search and found his body tangled in a brush pile in Middle Creek, less than 650 feet from the house. The pathologist could not determine how he died, and within weeks the case was cold. It stayed that way for fifteen years. In 2019 the U.S. Attorney for Kansas asked the FBI to reopen it; in June 2020 the government offered a $100,000 reward; in July 2020 Alonzo's body was exhumed and sent to the Armed Forces Medical Examiner at Dover Air Force Base. In April 2021 federal authorities announced the examiner's conclusion: homicide, based on injuries inconsistent with decomposition. The FBI is investigating whether his death was racially motivated. As of the bureau's 2023 awareness campaign, no one had been arrested or charged.
Where it stands
The case is an open federal homicide investigation led by the FBI's Kansas City field office with the U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas, and it is being investigated as a possible racially motivated killing. It was dormant for most of fifteen years after the original autopsy found no broken bones, no signs of a beating and no cause of death. What moved it was outside pressure and a change of pathologist. In 2019, then-U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister, whose attention had been drawn to the case by a Netflix "Unsolved Mysteries" production, asked the FBI to reopen it. On June 11, 2020, McAllister and the FBI announced a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction; he said someone, likely several people, knew what happened that night, and that "the code of silence must be broken." In July 2020 the FBI exhumed Alonzo's body from Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Topeka and sent it to the Armed Forces Medical Examiner at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. In November 2020 the bureau said it had learned of a second party in La Cygne that night, where a confrontation occurred before many attendees moved to the farmhouse, and asked anyone who attended either gathering to come forward. On April 5, 2021, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced that the examiner's report concluded the cause of death was homicide, pointing to injuries that were inconsistent with normal patterns of decomposition; the details were withheld for investigative reasons. Acting U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard said it was no accident and that Alonzo Brooks was killed. In October 2021 the FBI's lead agent on the case told KCUR the witnesses had grown up and moved on, and that a methodical approach was the way to gather evidence. In November 2023 the FBI put Alonzo's case at the center of a hate-crime awareness campaign on Kansas City billboards and buses. Nineteen years after his death, there had been no arrests and no charges, and no later reporting found for this file records any.
Persons of interest
The theories below are reported strictly as attributed to the cited sources. Naming a person here is not an accusation. Individuals are named only where they are deceased, were formally charged, were officially named by authorities, or have been publicly cleared.
- Attendees of the two La Cygne parties on April 3, 2004Not publicly named
Federal authorities have not publicly named a suspect. U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said in 2020 that someone, likely multiple people, knew what happened that night and that the code of silence must be broken. In November 2020 the FBI said it had learned of a second party nearby where a confrontation occurred before many attendees moved to the farmhouse, and asked anyone who attended either party to come forward. The FBI is investigating whether the killing was racially motivated. No one has been charged.[8]
Sources
- Death of Alonzo Brooks
“On April 3, 2004, Brooks traveled with three friends to a party in La Cygne.”
- The FBI ruled this 17-year cold case in Kansas a homicide, but still no answers for Alonzo Brooks' family
“Brooks' family found his body on a pile of broken tree branches that had collected in Middle Creek, just east of La Cygne and less than 650 feet from the party house.”
- Alonzo Brooks' death was a homicide, FBI confirms; ex-coroner for Douglas County had ruled cause undetermined
“It was no accident. Alonzo Brooks was killed.”
- After 15 years, the Alonzo Brooks case has been reopened by the FBI—can it finally be solved?
“The next morning, he was missing, with only his shoes and hat found at the site of the party.”
- Family continues to seek answers as FBI, U.S. Attorney announce $100,000 reward in Alonzo Brooks case
“The code of silence must be broken.”
- New autopsy report reveals 2004 death of Alonzo Brooks was a homicide
“We knew that Alonzo Brooks died under very suspicious circumstances.”
- FBI launching hate crime awareness campaign, shining new attention on cold case murder of Alonzo Brooks
“In the 19 years since his death, there have been no arrests, no charges, and no answers for what happened to Brooks.”
- SPECIAL: FBI seeking information in cold case investigation
“The investigation into this cold case was initiated in 2019.”
- FBI: Death of Alonzo Brooks was a homicide
“transported to Dover Air Force Base for examination by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner”
- Autopsy determines homicide in 17-year-old cold case
“The examiner's report concludes that the cause of death was homicide.”
- Alonzo Brooks' death ruled a homicide following body exhumation
“To find my boy like that. Nothing can describe that pain.”
- FBI reopens inquiry into death of Alonzo Brooks, featured on 'Unsolved Mysteries'
“His death certainly was suspicious, and someone, likely multiple people, know(s) what happened that night in April 2004.”