ON December 26, 1996, the body of six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey was found in the basement of her parents’ home in Boulder, Colorado.
The murder of JonBenét, who would have turned 34 on August 6, remains a mystery as her killer was never brought to justice.
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The day after Christmas, JonBenét’s mother, Patsy Ramsey, reported her daughter missing shortly before 6 am.
Patsy explained to police that she found a handwritten ransom note asking for $118,000 when she realized her daughter was missing.
As authorities searched the home, JonBenét’s father, John Ramsey, discovered his daughter’s body shortly after 1 p.m. in the basement.
JonBenét’s parents were treated as prime suspects for years before being exonerated in 2008 due to newly developed DNA sampling.
Read more about JonBenét Ramsey
Patsy also passed away two years before they were exonerated from ovarian cancer.
Although Patsy and John were cleared of speculation, JonBenét’s murder still remains a mystery.
The six-year-old boy would have turned 34 today and there are still many unanswered questions about the case.
REDEMPTION TICKET
When Patsy initially called the police, she believed her daughter was missing after finding a two-and-a-half-page ransom note.
The letter demanded $118,000 from John’s account.
Ironically, the amount requested corresponded to John’s Christmas bonus from the previous year.
As the ransom was identical to John’s bonus, experts believe that someone who had access to this information may have been involved in the crime.
The note stated that if the Ramseys contacted authorities, they would murder the six-year-old.
Upon investigation, it was noted that the ransom letter was written on letterhead found in Ramsey’s home.
However, the family was cleared of suspicion after carrying out a handwriting test, except for Patsy.
In 2003, a federal court ruled that it was unlikely Patsy wrote the noteraising the question of who actually wrote the letter.
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WAS THERE AN INTRUDER?
While many question who wrote the ransom letter, others wonder if an intruder killed JonBenét.
After investigation, a basement window was broken and an unidentified footprint was discovered at the crime scene.
During initial analysis, physical evidence suggested that the footprint was part of a frame; however, when the case was reopened in 2009, the idea of an intruder emerged.
A. James Kolar led the investigation for the Boulder district attorney’s office for nine months and believed it was unlikely that an intruder had murdered JonBenét, according to Today.
“We need to look at the family, at the people who were in the house that night, to determine the motive, what opportunity, what could have caused the situation and eventually be reported to the police on the morning of December 26th,” Kolar said at the time .
Even as DNA technology improves, advances in JonBenét’s case remain unanswered.
PLANNED OR ACCIDENT?
For years, experts and true crime experts have pondered whether JonBenét’s death was planned or accidental.
When the former beauty pageant was discovered, it was revealed that she had been strangled, beaten and sexually assaulted.
We know that the ransom letter demanded $118,000 and silence from the family, or JonBenét would be murdered.
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However, the letter was written on stationery found in the house, so many wonder if the plan was always to murder JonBenét or if it was planned in advance.
One theory predicted by author John Wesley Anderson, who wrote a book about her death, is that it was planned.
“The killer entered that house with a kidnapping kit,” he said The Independent.
“He brought duct tape, he brought parachute cables, he brought a stun gun to immobilize the victim.
“So this was very calculated. It was a kidnapping carried out in a very methodical way, which went wrong and ended in murder.”
INEPT INVESTIGATION
When Patsy called the police to report her daughter missing the day after Christmas, the Boulder Police Department was hit with criticism over how they handled the initial investigation.
The department was believed to be understaffed and unprepared for the crime scene when they arrived at the Ramsey home.
I wish we had done a better job of crime scene security and control from day one
Former Police Chief Mark Beckner
They also initially believed that the Ramseys had a hand in JonBenét’s murder and overlooked other clues at the time.
Former police chief Mark Beckner confessed that he wished they did a “better job” at the crime scene.
“I wish we had done a better job of securing and controlling the crime scene from day one,” Beckner shared via Reddit.
“We should also have separated John and Patsy and gotten full statements from them that day.
“Letting them go was a big mistake, so they got a lawyer and were only able to formally interview them in May 1997, five months after their daughter was murdered.”
FALSE CONFESSION
In 2006, then known as John Mark Karr, he confessed to JonBenét’s murder.
Karr was in Thailand at the time.
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Karr was extradited back to the United States and arrested. However, he was released due to lack of evidence.
However, in an interview with The messengerKarr suggested there might be someone else with him.
“Everyone was so quick to say I was a liar or delusional,” Karr told the outlet.
“Did it ever occur to anyone that I might be trying to protect someone else?”
Following his statement, Karr refused to explain what he meant.
Despite her confession, the DNA evidence found on JonBenét did not match Karr.
In addition to Wolf, Gary Oliva also confessed numerous times to being JonBenét’s killer.
Oliva, a convicted pedophile, served eight years in prison for child pornography crimes.
When he was arrested, Oliva was found in possession of 335 photos related to JonBenét.
While serving time, Oliva wrote letters to her former classmate, Michael Vail, confessing to murdering the child pageant queen.
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In copies of her letters obtained by The US Sun, Oliva composed hand-drawn sketches of JonBenét.
For years, Vail claimed he received a phone call from Oliva the morning of JonBenét’s murder, claiming he told him, “I hurt a girl.”
Vail reportedly reported the call to authorities the next day, but said Boulder police did not act on the report for more than four years.
Oliva was supposed to remain in prison until 2025, but was released on parole in February this year.
LIST OF SUSPECTS
Journalist Chris Wolf was named as the main suspect in JonBenét’s murder by her parents.
Wolf’s girlfriend at the time called the police after he stormed out of the house on Christmas Eve and returned the next morning with muddy clothes.
Wolf was briefly detained after refusing to submit a handwriting sample to authorities.
Despite his brief arrest, Wolf was never officially charged with the six-year-old boy’s murder.
Aside from Wolf, JonBenét’s parents, and many others, a specific lead has yet to be identified.
INSUFFICIENT DNA
Because the crime happened in 1996, there may not have been enough DNA evidence to fully analyze the murder.
In November 2022, the Pedregulho Police Department said they would work closely with the Colorado Cold Case Review Team to use advanced DNA testing.
However, the amount of DNA is very limited.
“The amount of DNA evidence available for analysis is extremely small and complex,” the statement read.
“The sample can, in whole or in part, be used for DNA testing.
“In collaboration with the CBI and FBI, there have been several discussions with private DNA laboratories regarding the feasibility of ongoing testing of DNA recovered from crime scenes and genetic geneaology analysis… Whenever there is a proven technology that can test with security forensic data samples consistent with available samples in this case, additional analysis will be performed.”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
