The brutal murder of a 14-year-old cheerleader whose body was burned so badly she had to be identified by dental records is the focus of a new episode of the true crime series Murder Under the Friday Night Lights.
Alicia DeBolt went missing on August 21, 2010, to the shock of her small town in Kansas. She was last seen alive when she left her home in Great Bend for a party just before midnight that evening.
A few days later, her charred body was found at the Venture Corp. asphalt plant just south of town, with traces of duct tape on her ankles and face.
Airing on February 14, the upcoming episode of the Investigation Discovery series will explore DeBolt’s murder and the conviction of factory worker Adam Longoria.
Alicia DeBolt, a 14-year-old cheerleader from Great Bend, Kansas, was murdered by Adam Longoria in August 2010
Longoria (L) was 36 when he began pursuing DeBolt (R) in July 2010. Prosecutors portrayed him as being immediately obsessed with the teen after seeing her at a birthday party
Longoria was 36 years old — over two decades DeBolt’s senior — when he began pursuing the teen in July 2010.
Prosecutors portrayed him as being immediately obsessed with her after seeing her at a birthday party for his live-in girlfriend, Eva Brown.
‘He began to woo Alicia by fawning over her and providing her with mixed alcohol drinks. He wanted Alicia to be “his girl,”‘ prosecutors wrote in one filing.
DeBolt’s murder is the focus of a new episode of the true crime series Murder Under the Friday Night Lights
‘When another male took her home at the end of the party, the defendant became upset, later accusing this individual of blocking his attempts to have sex with Alicia.’
Longoria and the DeBolt began texting the day after the party and exchanged 55 messages on July 18, 2010.
He called the teen ‘miss shy’ and ‘hot stuff’ and asked her to send him a picture, which she did.
Prosecutors said Longoria unsuccessfully attempted to get the teen in the car with him on four other occasions.
The state contended that on August 21, 2010, Longoria’s ‘depraved fantasy’ came true when he finally lured DeBolt into his vehicle, took her to an isolated area, attempted to rape her, and killed her.
Employees at Venture Corp. initially thought they had found a mannequin on the property, until they noticed flies around the burned figure and called the police.
The body was so badly burned and decomposition so advanced that the specific cause of DeBolt’s death remains unknown.
All officials could say for sure was that they didn’t think she was burned alive.
Longoria and the DeBolt began texting the day after they met and exchanged 55 messages on July 18, 2010. He called her ‘miss shy’ and ‘hot stuff’ and asked her to send him a picture
DeBolt was last seen alive when she left her home for a party just before midnight on August 21, 2010. Text messages from Longoria showed that he was the one who picked her up
A few days after DeBolt went missing, her charred body was found at the Venture Corp. asphalt plant just south of town (pictured), where Longoria worked
Longoria was arrested after he was found driving an SUV stolen from the asphalt company where he worked.
He vigorously denied the charges of capital murder, attempted rape, and criminal solicitation of a minor, despite his lengthy criminal record.
Three months before DeBolt was killed, he was released from a Texas prison where he had been serving a seven-year sentence for aggravated robbery.
Longoria claimed he did not see DeBolt the day she disappeared, saying someone else took his car and cell phone that night.
His attorney tried unsuccessfully to suppress inconsistent statements he made to investigators about his whereabouts at the time.
Longoria texted DeBolt an hour before she left her house: ‘I can pick up and we can go out and party we will have fun.’
‘I have 5 bottles and 5 cases of beer an [sic] 1 house and there will be lots of people,’ read another text message. She replied, ‘K.’
DeBolt then said she was ready and gave him her home address. At 10:59 p.m., Longoria texted her again: ‘B there in 3 mins.’ A minute later, he added: ‘I’m here.’
The last signal picked up from Alicia’s phone was at 11:40 p.m.
Longoria was arrested after he was found driving an SUV stolen from the company
A surveillance video showed Longoria buying $1.32 of gas on the night DeBolt disappeared. He was convicted of capital murder in April 2012
Longoria was formally sentenced to life imprisonment without the chance of parole for the murder of DeBolt. The teen’s mother, Tammy Conrad, is pictured at his sentencing
At 12:57 a.m., Longoria texted the girl’s phone one last time: ‘There isn’t going 2 b a party never mind.’
Other evidence indicating that he was involved in DeBolt’s grisly death included gasoline on his gym shoes and video surveillance showing him buying $1.32 of gas on the night she disappeared.
Longoria’s ex-girlfriend testified that he smelled of gasoline when he came home and that her car reeked of it the next morning.
She said he washed his clothes when he came home that night and later shredded his T-shirt before asking her to dispose of it.
Other witnesses testified he had asked them to lie about his whereabouts that night.
In April 2012, Longoria was convicted of capital murder after jurors determined that he committed criminal sodomy, aggravated criminal sodomy, and attempted rape while killing DeBolt.
Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty; he was formally sentenced to life imprisonment without the chance of parole for the murder of DeBolt.
‘[DeBolt] was a little girl that was manipulated and abused and murdered by a man who knows better,’ prosecutor Kevin O’Connor said at the sentencing in June 2012.
Barton County Judge Hannelore Kitts had little leeway in deciding Longoria’s punishment because a capital murder conviction in Kansas carries a mandatory sentence of at least life without parole.
In 2015, the Kansas Supreme Court rejected Longoria’s reasons for appeal and upheld his capital murder conviction.
