25 years after JonBenét Ramsey's murder, police still hope DNA will solve the case
Police in Boulder, Colorado, are marking 25 years since their investigation into the murder of JonBenét Ramsey began. After analyzing more than 1,500 pieces of evidence, including 1,000 DNA samples, investigators have high hopes a DNA match will soon solve the case.
"Thanks to the huge advances in DNA technology, multiple suspects have been run through the system to check for matches," police said in a statement.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation updated over 750 reference samples with the latest DNA technology, and officials said that DNA is checked regularly for new matches.
This isn't the first time investigators have pinned their hopes on scientific advances. In 2016, new DNA testing was planned after a joint investigation by the Boulder Daily Camera and KUSA-TV reportedly uncovered flaws in the interpretation of previous DNA testing.
The beauty queen was six years old when she was reported missing the day after Christmas in 1996. Her family said they found a ransom note inside their home. Her body was later found in a basement room, and an autopsy revealed that the cause of her death was strangulation.
JonBenét's parents and her brother Burke, the only ones in the home that night, were previously cleared by DNA evidence.
Burke Ramsey, who was 9 years old when his sister died, spoke publicly about her death in for the first time in 2016. He told Dr. Phil McGraw that he felt it was time to talk about her death two decades after the media first swarmed their quiet street in Boulder.
"For a long time the media basically made our lives crazy. It's hard to miss the cameras and news trucks in your front yard and we go to the supermarket sometimes and there would be a tabloid with my picture, JonBenét's picture plastered on the front or they would follow us around," said Ramsey. "Seeing that as a little kid is just kind of a chaotic nightmare, so I was pretty skeptical of any sort of media, it just made me a very private person."
In that interview, he spoke about what he said happened the day his sister was found dead in their basement.
"The first thing I remember is my mom bursting into my room really frantic saying 'Oh my gosh, oh my gosh,' running around my room, now, I know, looking for JonBenét," said Ramsey.
No one has ever been charged in her killing.
JonBenét's father John Ramsey, who appeared in the Discovery+ documentary "JonBenét Ramsey: What Really Happened?", told USA Today earlier this year that the family is "hoping somebody will come forward with some information that will be helpful."
According to the Boulder Police Department, its major crimes unit has "received, reviewed or investigated more than 21,016 tips, letters and emails and detectives have traveled to 19 states to interview or speak with more than 1,000 individuals in connection to this crime."
Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at 303-441-1974, email the department at bouldersmostwanted@bouldercolorado.gov, call Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS(8477) or visit www.nococrimestoppers.com.