CONNECTED TO 20020904-Alexander-Mandi
Mary A. Drake, 79, a lifelong resident of Great Bend, Kansas, was killed inside the Dolly Madison Bakery outlet store at 1004 Harrison St. in Great Bend on the evening of September 4, 2002. Drake, a retired Fuller Brush Company assembly worker, had stopped at the bakery to buy a loaf of bread. Also killed was 24-year-old Mandi K. Alexander, a bakery clerk who was in her third day on the job. A delivery driver arriving to collect empty bread racks discovered both women's bodies at approximately 7:55 p.m., face down in a small back-office area; both had been stabbed and their throats cut with a sharp object that was never recovered. Cash was missing from the register, but Drake's purse, wallet, and the loaf of bread she had come to buy were left undisturbed on the store counter. Investigators have asked anyone in the vicinity of the bakery between 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. that evening to come forward. A witness reported seeing a white male, approximately 6'1"–6'2", 175 lbs, with collar-length light brown to blond hair and a slight beard, walking away from the bakery's front door around the time of the killings.
The case has been investigated jointly by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Great Bend Police Department, and the Barton County Sheriff's Office. Alexander's ex-husband was investigated in connection with an ongoing custody dispute at the time but was cleared with a verified alibi; no other person has been publicly identified as a suspect, and no arrest has been made. In September 2022, on the 20th anniversary of the killings, the KBI announced that a renewed review of physical evidence using updated forensic technology had identified a male DNA sample recovered from the body of one of the two victims; the agency has since collected comparison samples from numerous individuals but has not reported a match as of this writing. The investigation remains open. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is offering a $17,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction, reachable at 1-800-KS-CRIME, online at kbi.ks.gov/sar, or through Barton County Crime Stoppers.
