JonBenet Ramsey case ‘remains a top priority’ almost three decades after child beauty queen’s death, police say
JonBenet Ramsey’s case remains a “top priority” nearly three decades after the child beauty queen’s unsolved murder, Colorado police said.
On the morning after Christmas in 1996, John and Patsy Ramsey woke up to find their 6-year-old daughter was missing and that a ransom note had been left inside their Boulder home. Hours later, John discovered her body in the basement. She had a fractured skull, a string around her neck and bore signs of sexual assault.
The child’s murder garnered nationwide attention, sparking numerous theories about who may have killed her and multiple documentaries. Dozens of suspects have been investigated, but 29 years later, the killer remains atlarge.
“I want to assure the community that our agency is committed to doing everything we can to bring justice to JonBenet and hold her killer responsible,” Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said in his annual update on Friday.
“My direction to our department has been clear: leave no stone unturned, follow the leads wherever they go,” he said. “This case remains a top priority for our department.”
He then detailed some of the work the department has done to advance the case over the past year.
“Our detectives have conducted several interviews as well as re-interviewed individuals based on tips that we’ve received,” Redfearn said. “We’ve also collected new evidence and tested and retested other pieces of evidence to generate new leads. Techniques and technology constantly evolve. This is especially true with technology related to DNA testing.”
Police are in possession of unknown DNA that was found under Ramsey’s fingernails and in her underwear.
Redfearn also said he has met with the Ramsey family to keep them abreast of the investigation.
“It’s never too late for people with knowledge of this terrible crime to come forward and I urge those responsible for this murder to contact us,” he added. “Next year will be 30 years since JonBenet was murdered in her own home. She should be here with us today living a full and happy life with her family.”
In 2006, a former school teacher was arrested in Thailand in connection with the murder. He confessed to drugging, raping and killing Ramsey, according to Thai police. But prosecutors dropped their case against him after DNA tests failed to place him at the crime scene.
In 2008, Patsy, John, and JonBenet’s brother, Burke, were cleared as suspects using DNA analysis. The parents had been living under an “umbrella of suspicion” for years, pushing them to move away from Colorado to their home state of Georgia. Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer in 2006 while working to clear her name.
Last December, investigators indicated that the case could be solved in the near future.
“I’m not sure what it will take to bust it wide open, but it feels like it’s within reach,” an investigator told the New York Post. “There’s a lot of pressure to get this solved.”
