The cold case of Alonzo Brooks, a Kansas man who died mysteriously in 2003, is seeing renewed interest following an episode of Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries. According to multiple sources, his body has now been exhumed as part of the investigation into his untimely death.
News reports at the time and the newly rebooted Netflix series say Brooks attended a party in East Central Kansas in April 2004 and never returned home. A month later, his body was found in a nearby creek. Brooks was just 23 years-old.
Last year the FBI reopened the case into his death which is believed to be a potential hate crime. Earlier this month, its inclusion in the new season of Unsolved Mysteries introduced the obscure case to millions of new people. In a statement last month from Stephen McAllister, U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas, he noted that it was time for the truth behind Brooks’ death to be known to the world. “The code of silence must be broken,” McAllister wrote. “Alonzo’s family deserves to know the truth, and it is time for justice to be served.” He suspects “multiple people” know what happened to him on that fatal night in April 2004.
Since reopening the case, the FBI has offered $100,000 for tips leading to an arrest in his case. The official Unsolved Mysteries Twitter account has laid out some of the details now known to the federal authorities. That includes where Brooks’s body was found, where his belongings were found, and what an original autopsy concluded about his death.
Authorities say Brooks was one of three Black people at a party of more than 100 attendees the night he died. His friends left him at the gathering with no way to get home. The next day he was reported missing, and later he was found by family and friends on top of branches in a creek. It’s been noted that his belongings were found “well intact” for being submerged in water.
Though foul play could not be determined at the time of his autopsy, loved ones of Alonzo Brooks believe he was the victim of a crime. The FBI is encouraging anybody with information to call 816-874-TIPS or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.