Gossip was all most of us ever really knew. A month later, neither the sheriff nor KBI had made any progress in the case. (LogOut/ They could have went by the creek to do drugs and a fight happened or Justin The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in Alonzos murder. The white gothic farmhouse built in 1880 where the party was held was, and still is, a rental property owned by Bradley and Janell Aust, residents of La Cygne. They say he always got along with everyone. His body was found in a creek a month after. I wish I could find it.. [8] Postmortem examination indicated that Brooks did not have any broken bones, any signs of blunt force trauma or injury, nor any of the biological signs of drowning in his lungs. For all the interviewing of the kids, it may be that you had an actual killer at the end of the night, with not many people around, he said, and so we've got a code of silence among a very small group, that has not been broken all these years.". The determination was made after Brooks' body was exhumed and taken to Dover Air Force Base. They were surrounded by cornfields, and woods when they approached the farmhouses long gated driveway. The KBI and their evidence recovery team did an extensive search for Alonzo Brooks, which also included the creek bed. Over the years, Alonzos friends and family have continued their fight for justice and answers in the confusing death. In July 2020, the FBI exhumed his body from his grave at a Topeka cemetery. While they havent revealed much about the contents of their interviews with party goers, theyve made it clear that there seems to be a code of silence among many of the kids who were there that night. He also says that as they were searching in the brush on the side of the road, someone came down from the farmhouse on a four wheeler and told them to leave. Both the KBI and FBI were unsuccessful in locating Brooks. I found him to be cold and have a complete and total absence of empathy. Thats one of the last things Maria Ramirez remembers asking her son before he left their Gardner, Kansas, home. Angela Ramirez-Cox, who runs the Facebook page Justice for Alonzo and coordinates all media interviews for the family, was contacted by someone with the Unsolved Mysteriesproduction team, which was shooting a reboot of the series that ultimately landed on Netflix. According to an investigation by the FBI, there were approximately 100 people ages of 16-25 at the party and Alonzo was one of only three African-American men in attendance. Her heart sank. After the case was reopened, the FBI offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to a conviction. Finally, 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. After Alonzo had been missing for almost a month, a group of his family and friends organized a search. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much I got this! The U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Kansas previously said Brooks was one of three African-Americans at the gathering attended by 100 other partygoers. The FBI, which is actively investigating Alonzos death, is offering a one-hundred-thousand-dollar reward to anyone with any information. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/kansascity/news/press-releases/new-autopsy-determines-death-of-alonzo-brooks-was-a-homicide, https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-10-13/the-fbi-ruled-this-17-year-cold-case-in-kansas-a-homicide-but-still-no-answers-for-alonzo-brooks-family, https://www.facebook.com/Justice-for-Alonzo-Brooks-555822191216556/, Murdered in Kansas: The Case of Alonzo Brooks, Missing in Minnesota: The Case of Brandon Swanson, Murdered in DC: The Case of the Freeway Phantom, Unsolved in California: The Case of the Keddie Cabin Murders. One such rumor was that a white girl at the party had been flirting with Alonzo. However, theres reason to question the rigueur of the autopsy. Someone took that away from us. (LogOut/ It was about an hour and twenty-five minutes into their search when they found Alonzos body. I had to protect him. After the case was labeled cold, the family remained diligent in trying to apply public and private pressure to the law enforcement agencies. So hes mixed. A theater is the center of a bold revitalization of quaint Pleasant Hill. The FBI exhumed Alonzos body in hopes that further study may provide clues. After the show aired in July 2020, the body of Alonzo Brooks, whose disappearance and death is outlined in the series fourth episode, .css-umdwtv{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:.0625rem;text-decoration-color:#FF3A30;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:background 0.4s;transition:background 0.4s;background:linear-gradient(#ffffff, #ffffff 50%, #d5dbe3 50%, #d5dbe3);-webkit-background-size:100% 200%;background-size:100% 200%;}.css-umdwtv:hover{color:#000000;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;-webkit-background-position:100% 100%;background-position:100% 100%;}was exhumed, and the FBI announced that they were investigating his death as a potential racially-motivated hate crime. Thats why we were surprised, to begin with, that he wanted to go to the party that night., The house party in La Cygne attracted young people from many small towns in the area, including Paola, Spring Hill and Olathe. For so many people, especially in Kansas, myself included, going to a barn party or a field party is a rite of passage, he says. Filmmaker Josh Pratt has been working on a project for about six years and is planning to release an in-depth investigative podcast about what happened. The mysterious 2004 death of Kansas man Alonzo Brooks has been ruled a homicide by the FBI, 16 years later. Brooks body was found in a creek in La Cygne, Kan., on May 1, 2004. On May 1, 2004, they found a decayed body covered in brush on the bank of the creek, right behind the farmhousean area that any proper search by law enforcement would have previously covered. Billy got a call from his uncle with his location, and he ran down toward his brothers body. ", "U.S. Attorney, FBI Announce $100,000 Reward in Cold Case", "Unsolved Mysteries gives update on Alonzo Brooks case", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Death_of_Alonzo_Brooks&oldid=1139767168, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 16 February 2023, at 20:15. "It defies reason to believe that Alonzo's death was a suicide or that he somehow accidentally tumbled into a relatively shallow creek, in Linn County, leaving behind his boots and hat, all with no witnesses whatsoever," McAllister said. An Associated Press article from 1993 states that Mitchell had engaged in misconduct, including harvesting organs without family permission and improperly storing skeletons in his office. A barbed wire fence surrounds the back of the house while a creek lies a football fields length awayAlonzos body was found in that creek a month after his disappearance. He was a clean freak, Felicia Brooks says. Alonzos favorite hat! I just started crying, Maria Ramirez says. appreciated. Brooks mother, Maria Ramirez, believes her son was targeted for his race. Alonzos mother, Maria, told Dateline she remembers the evening of April 3, 2004 being a chilly one. Inside the movement that wants to remake KCs outdoor spaces with native plants. We knew that Alonzo Brooks died under very suspicious circumstances. Webalonzo brooks creek photo. His death certainly was suspicious, and someone, likely multiple people, know(s) what happened that night in April 2004. Where had he been this whole time?? IE 11 is not supported. Alonzo was the youngest of five children born to Maria and her now ex-husband, Billy Brooks Sr. After having a boy and three girls, several years passed and they were surprised to find out Maria was pregnant again. On the first day of the search effort, Brooks' body was found on the banks of Middle Creek adjacent to the house where he was last seen a month earlier. The mysterious 2004 death of Kansas man Alonzo Brooks has been ruled a homicide by the FBI, 16 years later. Andrea Cavallier is a Digital Producer for Dateline NBC.. Black Lives Matter movement is gaining, (and) people are questioning ways that we've been acting in society.. Racist remarks were heard before Brooks, who was black, disappeared. Brooks body was exhumed last July and transported to the Dover Air Force Base, where an Armed Forces Medical Examiner completed an autopsy that confirmed his death was a homicide. His cause of death remains contested: his body was well-preserved upon its discovery, despite having apparently rested in a creek for a month. Yes, but the soft tissue was gone. alonzo fbi But one major question that no one could seem to answer was WHY hadnt Alonzo been found in the 27 days since hed been missing! Alonzo Brooks death ruled a homicide 17 years after hes mysteriously found in creek: FBI by Jacquelyn Gray April 12, 2021 3,112 Shares Tweet A federal Published I went up to KBI headquarters in Ottawa and talked with an agent there, Billy Brooks Jr. says. She remembers peeking into his room in the morning only to see Alonzos bed undisturbed. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. [2] A native of Topeka, Kansas, Brooks was of African American and Mexican descent. Fune and Broughard arrived at the party separately, but Sprague took Alonzo and was supposed to be his ride home. Mitchell was not charged with a crime but was asked to resign. The code of silence must be broken.The Netflix episode premiered on July 1 at midnight. His body was transported to Dover Air Force Base for examination by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner after it was exhumed, according to the news release from the Federal Bureau of Investigations Kansas City Division. Additionally, the FBI announced last month that they were offering a reward of up to $100,000 to anyone who has information about his death. Someone knows what happened to my son, Maria said. According to the Netflix episode, several rumors swirled at the time that Brooks body had been preserved in a freezer following his death while police were still searching the area. According to the friends, Adam went to collect him to leave, couldnt find him, heard he left already, and headed home. The FBI is reportedly investigating a second party which took place the night murder victim Alonzo Brooks disappeared in 2004. Brooks, 23, vanished while attending a party at a farmhouse in La Cygne, Kansas, on April 3, 2004. Their friends were already there and the party was already in full swing so they grabbed their beer and got to it. The next day Brooks did not return to Gardner and was deemed to be missing. fbi reward kansas cold case This new examination by a team of the worlds best forensic pathologists and experts establishes it was no accident. Alonzo Brooks was killed. Foul play has been suspected, but the original autopsy done by Dr. Erik Mitchell found no signs that Alonzo had fallen or been beaten up. They do however still say that this feeling of dismissiveness seemed to carry through, and they found it frustrating. The next morning, he was missing, with only his shoes and hat found at the site of the party. Its not just the authorities who are taking a methodical approach. alonzo unsolved obafemimartins9 eonline Ill go outside and little things, you know it just could be the wind, and I think thats him messing my hair, Ramirez said. After he failed to come home the next day, his family contacted the police who began searching for Brooks. His story was featured last year on For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. The bank of the creek is steep and obscured by trees and brush, but today the creek is relatively shallow and calm. One of the cold cases featured in Netflixs 2020 Unsolved Mysteries reboot has a new development. We are doing everything we can, and will spare no resources, to bring those responsible to justice. The FBI said that the exhumation and autopsy revealed that Brooks' body had injuries inconsistent with normal patterns of decomposition. Brooks, 23, vanished while attending a party at a farmhouse in La Cygne, Kansas, on April 3, 2004. as well as other partner offers and accept our. [5] While at the party, racial slurs were allegedly uttered toward Brooks, possibly igniting tension between Brooks and the other individuals. This content is imported from youTube. And those kids are now in their early 30s. They radioed the group of searched Weve got him, weve got Zo. Everyone who searched, even the Lee Summit search team, all agreed his body had absolutely not been there before and if it had been they would have found it. At the time it was rented to a twenty-something man from Gardner. Alonzos father believes the reward money will urge someone to come forward. I reported negative contact with Alonzo or anyone at all there, and the case was turned over to the KBI (Kansas Bureau of Investigations). It's eating at those people, whoever did it to my son and I know their life is not good.. Its time to find out what happened to my baby. Witnesses recalled flirtation between Brooks and a white woman later on at the party, prompting theories of a hate crime motive. Find him. The 23-year-old was last seen alive in April 2004 during a party at a farmhouse on the outskirts of La Cygne. Essie [Esperanza] fell to her knees and was like, I cant, and she handed me the camera, Demetria Brooks says. 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