In the winter of 1990, a shadow fell over Fort Smith, Arkansas, with the disappearance of 12-year-old Alonzo Don Cade. The young male was last seen on November 24, 1990, at a basketball game at Westark Community College. A sense of dread grew in the community as days turned into weeks with no sign of the boy. The search came to a heartbreaking end on December 20, 1990, when his body was discovered in a desolate gas-well pit near the grounds of Fort Chaffee, a nearby military installation.
The investigation into Alonzo's death soon focused on a man named George Kent Wallace. At the time of the discovery of Alonzo's body, Wallace was already in custody. He had been arrested earlier that month for the abduction and attempted murder of an 18-year-old in a nearby town. This incident was part of a string of violent crimes against young men and boys in the area. Authorities considered Wallace the prime suspect in Alonzo's death. His name was linked to the deaths of two other teenagers whose bodies were found in a pond just across the state line in Oklahoma.
Despite being the primary person of interest in the death of Alonzo Cade, George Kent Wallace was never formally charged in connection with the case. While incarcerated for his other crimes, he reportedly considered speaking with investigators about Alonzo's death but ultimately chose not to. Wallace would go on to be convicted for other murders and was executed for his crimes in August of 2000. To this day, the death of Alonzo Don Cade remains officially unsolved, leaving a lingering question in the heart of the Fort Smith community.
