Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
ID’s Murder Under the Friday Night Lights looks into teen cheerleader Alicia DeBolt’s gruesome murder by Adam Longoria. The upcoming episode, “Stolen Cheers,” will air on the network this Wednesday, February 14, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET.
The episode’s official synopsis reads, “Teen Alicia DeBolt goes missing shortly after making the cheer squad; police question members of the football team and fellow cheerleaders, but the truth behind this mystery is more sinister than anyone in her small Kansas town could have imagined.”
DeBolt was 14 years old when she went missing after leaving for a party one night in August 2010. Police found her badly burned remains three days later near the Venture Corp. plant where Adam Longoria worked, per CBS News. Authorities named him a suspect after text messages showed that he had picked up the victim on the night she disappeared. They used text messages, witness accounts, and DNA to implicate him in the crime.
Then, in 2012, the case concluded after Longoria’s capital murder conviction, for which he received a life sentence without parole. According to the Kansas Department of Corrections, Longoria is now serving his sentence in the El Dorado Correctional Facility.
How was Adam Longoria linked to Alicia DeBolt’s murder?
Authorities initially suspected Adam Longoria’s involvement in Alicia DeBolt’s murder case after looking into their text messages. CBS News reported that the two had met at a party in July 2010, after which Longoria started pursuing the teenager.
Text messages shared between them showed that Longoria had picked up DeBolt on August 21, 2010, the night she disappeared. Three days later, police found her charred body at the Venture Corp. plant just outside of Great Bend. The victim’s remains had traces of duct tape on her ankles and face.
Moreover, authorities found other evidence that they used to incriminate Longoria in the crime. According to CBS News, these included the gasoline on his gym shoes and surveillance footage of him buying gas. The footage showed that the then-36-year-old bought $1.32 of gas on the night DeBolt went missing.
Detectives used witness accounts as proof of Adam Longoria’s involvement in Alicia DeBolt’s slaying. His now ex-girlfriend claimed that he smelled of gasoline when he returned home that night. Moreover, she said that he had borrowed her car for the night and that the vehicle reeked of gasoline. Inside the same car, forensics also found his semen mixed with DeBolt’s DNA.
Additionally, when authorities began investigating Longoria as a suspect, Longoria asked several witnesses to lie about his whereabouts, reported CBS. He then fled Great Bend in a stolen SUV from the asphalt company. This occurred just hours after investigators searched his house. Eventually, authorities arrested him and charged him with capital murder.
In April 2012, Adam Longoria stood a capital murder trial in Alicia DeBolt’s murder. A jury determined that he committed criminal sodomy, aggravated criminal sodomy, or attempted rape during the killing, convicting him of capital murder. Jurors also convicted him on the burglary and theft charges he was facing.
While prosecutors did not seek the death penalty in the capital murder case, Adam Longoria received life without the possibility of parole in prison. Fox News stated that he had also received additional prison terms of 17 months for burglary and 7 months in prison on the theft charges. Longoria is currently serving his sentence in the El Dorado Correctional Facility in Kansas, as per prison records.
Murder Under the Friday Night Lights will air Alicia DeBolt’s murder case on February 14, 2024, on ID.
