What happened to Alonzo Brooks, the subject of the Unsolved Mysteries episode "No Ride Home"? Brooks disappeared on April 3, 2004 after attending a house party in La Cygne, Kansas. He traveled approximately one hour to the rural location with one of his friends, Justin Sprague, who later got lost in the surrounding area with his vehicle and was unable to provide a ride home. Brooks then arranged to travel back to Gardner, Kansas, with a friend named "Adam" but never made it home.
A creek near the La Cygne party location was searched on April 12, and family members were allowed to conduct their own search on May 1. Brooks' body was found that same day near the aforementioned creek. In the Netflix docuseries, Dr. Erik Mitchell - a forensic pathologist - states that Brooks' hadn't suffered any "penetrating" injuries or fractures, and that a cause of death couldn't be determined. The docuseries heavily implies that Brooks was murdered in 2004, but also reveals that the Kansas Bureau of Investigation closed the file in 2019.
In Unsolved Mysteries, Rodney English - the victim's friend - recalls finding Brooks' hat and one of his boots after the disappearance, and realizing that something wasn't quite right. English also states that he doesn't understand why Sprague and others would've left their friend at the party, especially when racial slurs were being directed towards Brooks, a 23-year-old of African-American and Mexican descent. The victim's brothers believe that La Cygne locals may have covered up the murder by hiding the body and then placing it alongside the creek weeks later. Brooks' friends address online rumors in the Unsolved Mysteries episode, but reveal little about what transpired on the evening in question. The friend "Adam" also doesn't appear on camera to provide his side of the story. In the final moments of "No Ride Home," Brooks' mother expresses frustration about the lack of cooperation.
The FBI officially re-opened Brooks' case on June 11, 2020, approximately three weeks before the Netflix docuseries premiered. As of now, there haven't many any major developments in the case, but a $100,00 reward has been offered, and U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister stated (via Tyla), "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." On July 8, TMZ reported that Brooks' case "could crack first" in the near future, due to the amount of "legit" tips that have been received.
As of now, no arrests have been made in Brooks' case. The victim's mother, Maria Ramirez, believes her son was targeted in a hate crime, stating (via Marie Claire), “I’m Mexican and his father is Black... So he’s mixed. They didn’t just target one race. Or kill one race. They killed two. He was targeted because of the color of his skin.” Various theories about Brooks' death have emerged online, and the victim's friends even state in Unsolved Mysteries that some of the rumors could be true. What's clear, however - at least according to Dr. Mitchell - is that soft tissue in Brooks' neck was destroyed by animals, so it's impossible to determine if he was strangled. The forensic pathologist also reveals there's no way to prove or disprove the theory that Brooks' body was kept in a deep freezer, thawed, and then placed by the creek in La Cygne.
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