A man was found shot to death in a grassy lot near Independence Avenue and the Paseo in Kansas City, Missouri, in the early morning hours of a Thursday in August 2020. Officers responded to reports of a shooting about 1:15 a.m. and discovered 58-year-old Montez Blake, who had been fatally shot. The death was ruled a homicide and was recorded amid a sharp rise in the city’s killings that year; by the time of his death Kansas City had 123 homicides, up from 90 at the same point the prior year.

Police interviewed witnesses who were nearby, but by the following afternoon no arrests had been announced and no suspects or motive had been publicly identified. The investigation remained ongoing.

If anyone was in the area that night or has information about what happened to Montez Blake, please share it with the authorities.