April 3, 2004. La Cygne, Kansas. 23-year old Alonzo Brooks vanishes while attending a party at a farmhouse and his body is discovered on the banks of a nearby creek nearly one month later. While a forensic pathologist is unable to determine Alonzo’s exact cause of death, rumours start circulating that he was the victim of a hate crime before his body was placed at that location. In 2021, after Alonzo’s body is exhumed and given a new autopsy, it is announced that his death has officially been reclassified as a homicide. Who was responsible for killing Alonzo Brooks and what was the motive for his murder? If his death wasn’t a hate crime, what did actually happen to him? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a controversial case which was featured on the Netflix reboot of “Unsolved Mysteries”.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Kansas City FBI Office at (816) 512-8200 or call the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS (8477).

Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Alonzo_Brooks

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Alonzo_Brooks

https://unsolved.com/gallery/no-ride-home/

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/22/us/alonzo-brooks-exhumed-unsolved-mysteries-trnd/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/06/us/alonzo-brooks-case-ruled-homicide-unsolved-mysteries-trnd/index.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20200928180109/https://www.kansascitymag.com/what-happened-to-alonzo-brooks/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8556843/Family-friends-Unsolved-Mysteries-Alonzo-Brooks-speak-out.html

https://ew.com/tv/unsolved-mysteries-terry-dunn-meurer-rey-rivera-update/

“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.

“The Trail Went Cold” is doing a weekly livestream show on Vokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.

“The Trail Went Cold” is going to be appearing on podcast row at “Crimecon” at the World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida on September 22-24, 2023. To get a 10 % discount on the purchase of tickets to the event, please use our specialized promo code, “COLD23”, by visiting https://www.crimecon.com.

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at the True Crime Podcast Festival, taking place at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Austin, Texas on August 25-27, 2023. To get a 15 % discount on the purchase of tickets, please our specialized promo code, “TRAIL”, by visiting https://truecrimepodcastfestival.com.

The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.