JonBenet Ramsey’s father, John Ramsey, says he plans to satisfy with the Boulder Police Division chief in Colorado subsequent month, alongside a consultant from an unbiased genetic family tree analysis lab, as he pushes native authorities to permit an out of doors lab to check crime-scene proof from his daughter’s unsolved 1996 homicide case.
Thursday marks 28 years since 6-year-old JonBenet was discovered strangled and bludgeoned to loss of life within the basement of her household’s Boulder house on Dec. 26, 1996, and her killer stays unknown.
“We have requested a meeting with [Boulder Police Department] Chief [Stephen] Redfearn in January. He said yup, absolutely, let’s get together,” John Ramsey, 80, advised Fox Information Digital. “We haven’t scheduled the day yet, but we’ll get that figured out. That’s an important meeting. We’re going to have a representative with us for one of these cutting-edge labs to explain what they can and can’t do. Hopefully, he will accept their help.”
Ramsey added that if the BPD chief agrees to permit an unbiased lab to conduct testing on the practically three-decades-old crime scene objects — one thing he’s been pushing to do for years — he’ll really feel “comfortable we’ve got things moving.”
“The reason I’ve done these media interviews — Netflix, that documentary — is to keep pressure on the police. We’re not going to go away, folks,” Ramsey mentioned.
Ramsey desires police to retest sure proof for traces of DNA, together with exterior male DNA that federal officers disclosed in 1997, and take a look at different objects for the primary time.
Non-public genetic family tree databases have grown considerably during the last decade, and the know-how used to determine and hyperlink DNA to particular people is extra superior than it has ever been, making the opportunity of figuring out a suspect in JonBenet’s homicide utilizing genetic proof extra promising than ever earlier than.
There are greater than 20 objects within the case which have by no means been examined, together with, however not restricted to, a garrote discovered round JonBenet’s neck, a ransom word discovered within the Ramsey home on the morning of the homicide, a suitcase discovered within the basement that authorities consider the killer used to flee out a window, an unknown flashlight discovered on the Ramsey household’s kitchen counter the morning of the homicide and unknown rope present in brother Burke Ramsey’s room that day, in response to public information initially obtained by journalist Paula Woodward, who has revealed two books concerning the Ramsey case.
Whereas it’s unclear if officers will have the ability to discover or determine any suspects within the case by partnering with an unbiased lab with entry to non-public databases, Ramsey is hopeful that it’s the subsequent step for him in his pursuit for justice for his daughter, whether or not it yields outcomes or not.
“DNA is pretty complicated stuff. I have learned that,” Ramsey mentioned, “but that’s the reason that needs to be retested. That’s the one step that we’re asking the police to do is engage one of these one or two cutting-edge labs in the world and see what we come up with … and we come up empty-handed, then I’ll say, ‘Thank you. You tried. That’s the best we can do right now with today’s technology. Thank you.’ But until we do that, we haven’t done everything that could be done.”
Ramsey mentioned he lastly feels hopeful that he and BPD are making “progress” within the case 28 years after his daughter’s homicide.
BPD advised Fox Information Digital that the division has “regularly met with the family and plans to do so in 2025.”
Chief Redfearn is the fifth police chief to tackle the case since 1996, and he was formally appointed in September after serving because the interim chief for the Boulder Police Division beginning in January. BPD detectives have adopted up on greater than 21,000 suggestions, emails and letters and traveled to 19 states to interview or communicate with greater than a thousand folks in reference to the case.
“The killing of JonBenet was an unspeakable crime and this tragedy has never left our hearts,” Redfearn mentioned in a November assertion reflecting on 28 years since JonBenet’s homicide. “We are committed to following up on every lead and we are continuing to work with DNA experts and our law enforcement partners around the country until this tragic case is solved. This investigation will always be a priority for the Boulder Police Department.”
Native authorities have partnered with federal officers — together with the FBI — and DNA specialists from throughout the nation, in response to BPD.
“The murder of JonBenet Ramsey is a terrible tragedy and sparked years of unanswered questions and theories. Our office has successfully prosecuted other cold case homicides and many murder cases,” District Legal professional Michael Dougherty mentioned. “In every one of those cases, it was the evidence that proved the defendant(s) guilty. Whether it is DNA or other evidence, more is needed to solve this murder. I appreciate the collaboration with CBI, the FBI, and the Boulder Police Department.”
Officers have sorted by way of 2,500 items of proof and roughly 40,000 reviews with greater than one million pages documenting the investigation. The Colorado Chilly Case Evaluate staff has additionally offered BPD with an inventory of suggestions for the division to pursue, in response to Redfearn.
