This 6 year-old American child beauty queen was found bludgeoned and strangled to death in the basement of her family home in Boulder Colorado, on December 26th, 1996.  A ransom note from an anonymous group of individuals “that represent a foreign faction” asking for $118,000 in exchange for the safe return of JonBenet was found by her mother, Patsy Ramsey about 5:30 or 6:00 that morning.  Police were called and searched the home, but JonBenet’s body was not found until another search of the home was conducted five hours later by her father, John Ramsey.

Investigation

John, Patsy and older brother Burke Ramsey were prime suspects for many years.  The parents repeatedly appeared on news channels defending their innocence, while crime shows, tabloids and news reports continued to cast suspicion on them.  In July of 2008, Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy cleared the entire Ramsey family of any involvement in JonBenet’s murder, based on the results of new DNA samples and technology.  In a letter written to John Ramsey, Lacy stated  “To the extent that we may have contributed in any way to the public perception that you might have been involved in this crime, I am deeply sorry.  No innocent person should have to endure such an extensive trial in the court of public opinion.” Tragically, Patsy died of ovarian cancer two years earlier and at the time of her death she was still considered a possible suspect.

In 1996, at the time of JonBenet’s death, technology for DNA testing on her panties used swabs from fluid obtained from skin and clothing to establish DNA identity.  In 1997, DNA swab testing of her panties found DNA in two separate areas and contained enough information or DNA markers to be entered into the federal DNA database called CODIS.  “Touch” analysis, a new type of DNA technology that focus on skin cells, which was not available in 1996, was used in testing a different area of JonBenet’s clothing in 2008.  These new “touch” samples matched the DNA that was found in 1997 and have been compared with the CODIS database, but no match has been found.
The new DNA evidence belongs to a male, an unexplained third party.  Boulder police have tested more than 150 DNA samples and investigated approximately the same amount of potential suspects in their ongoing investigation and no one has been linked to this crime.  A decade and a half  later, JonBenet’s death remains one of the most notorious murders in U.S. history.