Losing Jon

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

A chilling true story of injustice 

David Parrish was in disbelief when he learned that 19-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.

©2020 David Key Parrish (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

You can skip this one

I was waiting the entire book for something to happen. I was stunned when it abruptly ended with a real ending. You have to sit through a whole lot of psychic non-sense and it leads nowhere. The narration was fine for me, I liked it. The story itself is heartbreaking and I do think there was a major police coverup but this book goes on and on about nothing.

Very good

This is a very good book that lacks a few perspectives to make it great. You will be left wondering “that was so long ago, what happened to everyone?”. Still very good.

Touching, heartfelt and amazing.

I heard an interview with this author on the True Murder podcast. The story interested me and the author intrigued me enough to listen to this book. It was worth every minute and I didn't want it to end. I wish this was fiction. Only because it is so sad to me the loss of the mother, their family and the community. Jon was seemingly a truly good person and I shed a few tears throughout this story. I love the way it was summed up at the end. While it wasn't quite the outcome that I desired, it was poignant and I'm still teary-eyed as I write this. This book honors the memory of Jon and tells the story of the victims caught in this corruption and their tireless efforts to uncover it. Loved it.

NEVER FORGET JON

If you’ve lost a loved one, you can feel this mother and son’s grief and anguish. To lose a loved one because of corrupt abuse of power is overwhelming. This story proves that law enforcement does band together to protect their “brothers in blue” when they’ve perpetrated abhorrent acts. I believe there is a small percentage of law enforcement personnel that abuse authority to such extreme but it paints all law enforcement with the same brush. There needs to be reforms to hold these rogue officers responsible and accountable immediately. Jon would be alive if this corrupt, dangerous individual with a position of absolute authority had been arrested and punished.

Must read true crime

A reminder of corruption and cover-up and what a mothers love will do to find out what happened to her son. It’s scary and horrific - the system that works against good. It’s also very spiritual.