Losing Jon: A Teen's Tragic Death, a Police Cover-Up, a Community's Fight for Justice

by David Parrish

Overview

A PopSugar Best True Crime Book of 2020

“Losing Jon takes you on a journey for truth that will have you questioning everything from start to finish. Broken trust with the police that have sworn to protect you, the unimaginable grief of a mother and the strength of a community that wants answers. David Parrish provides a daring examination of a tragedy that changed a community forever.”
—Gregg Olsen, #1 New York Times bestselling author
 
David Parrish was in disbelief when he learned that nineteen-year-old Jon Bowie’s body had been found hanged from a backstop at the local high school’s baseball field and the death declared a suicide. David had known Jon and his twin brother since they were boys. He had coached them on the baseball field and welcomed them into his home for sleepovers with his own sons. However, when David learned how Jon’s body was found, he felt compelled to find the facts behind this incomprehensible tragedy. 
 
Soon, David would learn of a brutal incident at a local motel where Jon and his brother had been severely beaten by police officers, the charges filed against those officers, and the months of harassment and intimidation Jon and his brother endured. Few in the utopian community of Columbia, Maryland, believed Jon could commit such a final act. Like many others, David wondered how a fateful night of teens blowing off steam could lead to such a tragic end. As law enforcement failed to find answers and seemed intent on preventing the truth from surfacing, David uncovered a system of cover-ups that could only lead to one conclusion—Jon’s death was an act of murder.
 
“A true page turner, filled with almost-too-unbelievable-to-be-true details of one community’s fight to find justice for one of its own . . . the issues raised, particularly when it comes to questions of police brutality and cover-ups, are very much relevant today.”
—New York Times bestselling author Lisa Pulitzer
 
Includes 16 Pages of Photographs

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780806540467
Publisher:	Kensington
Publication date:	04/28/2020
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	419,725
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

David Parrish is a technical writer, former recreational-league baseball coach, and long-time resident of Columbia, Maryland, where he and his wife raised their two sons and still reside.  David grew up near Durham, North Carolina and graduated with a B.A. in English at the University of North Carolina. Learn more at davidkparrish.com.

Editorial Reviews

03/30/2020

Parrish debuts with a riveting personal story about a tragic death. In January of 1990, the Howard County, Md., police raided a teenage party at a rural Red Roof Inn. According to the teens, two officers beat up and arrested twins Jon and Mickey Bowie for no reason. In May of that year, Jon Bowie was founded hanged at his school, after having filed charges against the officers and claiming that one of them was harassing him. The police insist it was a suicide, but much of the town disagreed. Parrish, who had coached Jon in baseball, recounts the lawsuits, the cover-up, and the amazing response from the community that followed. He himself set up a town hall meeting, made up petitions for state police intervention, and worked closely with Jon’s mother to find answers. Eventually, procedural violations were filed against the officers, but they stayed on the force until retiring years later. The lawsuit the Bowies filed against the county for the excessive force used when the twins were arrested was finally settled for $6 million. This account of a frustrating fight for justice should resonate with many true crime buffs. Agent: Rachel Cone-Gorham, RXD Agency. (May)

Publishers Weekly

The twists and turns read like a page-turning thriller, but Losing Jon is all fact. This is true crime at the highest of levels. Scary, heartbreaking and completely insightful. See why the best stories are sometimes the real stories.”
—Brad Meltzer, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Escape Artist
 
“Losing Jon takes you on a journey for truth that will have you questioning everything from start to finish. Broken trust with the police that have sworn to protect you, the unimaginable grief of a mother and the strength of a community that wants answers. David Parrish provides a daring examination of a tragedy that changed a community forever.”
—Gregg Olsen, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Parrish debuts with a riveting personal story about a tragic death…. This account of a frustrating fight for justice should resonate with many true crime buffs.”
—Publishers Weekly  

“One of the most exciting infuriating and heart wrenching stories ive ever read.”
—Dan Zupansky of True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers Podcast on Losing Jon
 
“Thank you from many in the Oakland Mills community that have sort of had this story in their history and appreciate the opportunity to learn more about it. To have this [case] examined in the respectful way that you’ve done it, a lot of people appreciate the book and you.”
—Elevate Maryland on Losing Jon

From the Publisher

05/08/2020

Jonathan Bowie, 19, was found hanging from a backstop on a high school baseball field in Howard County, MD; police declared the death a suicide, but Bowie's family and debut author Parrish, a family friend, suspected there was more to the story, and they tried to get the police to change the cause of death to homicide, as well as consider one of the police officers a suspect. Parrish covers the police's failure to properly investigate the death, the family's struggles with local law enforcement, community meetings, and eventually the involvement of the FBI, all without a resolution that satisfied the family. Unfortunately, Parrish gives the same weight to facts, gossip by teenagers, and information gleaned from psychics, including both the victim's mother and the author's mother. VERDICT Parrish is unable to take himself out of the situation enough to tell a coherent story. Readers will be unable to draw a conclusion and struck with disbelief that things could have been handled so poorly, as well as irritated that a large group of people were manipulated by messages from beyond. Not recommended.—Amelia Osterud, Milwaukee P.L.

Library Journal