A director behind Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries has said that he finds accounts of the night Alonzo Brooks went missing to be "troubling."

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No Ride Home was directed by Marcus A Clarke and told the story of 23-year-old Brooks, who attended a party at a farmhouse in rural Kansas but never returned from it.

One month later, his body was discovered just 250 feet from the location of the party, but the cause of death remains unknown - despite rumours that local people might have crucial information.

Clarke featured as a guest on the podcast You Can't Make This Up, where he opened up about his personal discomfort with the story put forward by Alonzo's friends.

He said: "This is a big part of the story that is very questionable to say the least. I spoke with his friends, Danny, Tyler and Justin... I think that the way they talk about what happened is troubling to me.

"There’s a certain, in my opinion only, emotional disconnect that I do see there. You know, you brought your friend to the party. When you're friends, and you go to a party, as a lot of people do as friends, they know, 'We go together, we come home together. And if we don't come home together, we ensure that you are safe, you have a method confirmed for you to get home.'

"Particularly when you're an hour away in the middle of Kansas. This is not a place where you can take a bus; you can't hop on a train, you can't just get in a taxi and go home - you would be stranded. And so, I have a lot of trouble understanding how a friend could be stranded in a situation like this."

Clarke is particularly concerned given that other attendees at the party had reportedly been using offensive racial slurs, suggesting that Brooks, a half-Black and half-Mexican man, could have been in danger.

He continued: "You go to a party with your friend and people are throwing around the N-word, that is a red flag. That is a serious red flag, I might leave right then... you have to go, this is not a safe space - particularly if people are drinking.

"There’s a lot of questions around the friends and how they left him. What actually happened and who left when? What did they see? What is this altercation? One friend describes they got into a little bit of a scuffle and the N-word is being thrown around.

"There are discrepancies in the stories of the friends that do not add up. However, I’m not going to put it all on them because they did speak to us and, to me, there is merit and integrity in people coming forward, however confused they might be."

Clarke went on to encourage any of Alonzo's friends who might have more information to offer it up, as it could help uncover the truth of the evening.

The body of Alonzo Brooks was recently exhumed, as the FBI are pursuing an investigation into the man's death being a racially motivated crime.

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Unsolved Mysteries is available to stream on Netflix. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our guide to the best series on Netflix and best movies on Netflix, or visit our TV Guide.

Authors

David Craig
David CraigSenior Drama Writer

David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.

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