John Ramsey, the father of the slain six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey, says police are waiting for him to die so they can forget about his daughter's murder case.
In 1996, JonBenét was found dead with a garrote around her neck in the basement of her family's home. An autopsy by the Boulder City Medical Examiner determined that the girl had been beaten and strangled to death and had an eight 1/2-inch (22 cm) fracture on her skull.
Highlights
- John Ramsey has accused the police of waiting for him to pass away so they can forget about JonBenét's murder case.
- Six-year-old JonBenét was beaten and strangled to death in the basement of her family's home in 1996.
- Ramsey calls for FBI to handle case and independent DNA testing on unexamined evidence.
Ramsey and his late wife, Patsy, were initially named suspects of the crime based on probable cause, but they were ultimately found innocent.
Now, the grieving father alleges that authorities in Boulder, Colorado, have no interest in finding the killer.
Image credits: crimecon
"We heard, reliably, that one of the members of the police department — I don't know who—told a journalist, 'We're just waiting for John Ramsey to die,'” the 80-year-old told Fox News Digital in a May 31 interview at CrimeCon, a true-crime convention held in Nashville, Tennessee.
"And the implication is: then pressure will be off, and all this will go away.
"It's just disgusting, but it's not out of character at all."
Paula Woodward, an investigative journalist who has been covering the murder since the 1990s, reportedly confirmed hearing these comments from an officer at the Boulder Police Department.
In 1996, JonBenét was found dead with a garrote around her neck in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado
Image credits: crimecon
Ramsey says he hasn't given up on living the day when justice is served for his daughter.
"I'm not going to die. Well, I'm going to be around for a good while."
When he's no longer around, his son, John Andrew Ramsey, will "take over" and continue to push for answers.
"He's very passionate about getting this resolved, and I'm grateful for that."
Ramsey aims for the case to be handed to the FBI and for an independent forensic genetic genealogy company to conduct DNA testing to analyze the items in his daughter's case that weren't examined before.
Among these items are a pair of JonBenét's underwear that tested positive for traces of an unknown male's DNA in 1997, the garrote found around the girl's neck, a suitcase found in the basement that police believe the murderer stepped on to escape out a window, and a ransom note found in the victim's home on the morning of the crime, Woodward said at CrimeCon.
"As far as we know, these items have never been tested," the 80-year-old added.
"They were taken from the crime scene as possible evidence. We want them tested, and we want them tested by an outside lab for DNA sampling. To my knowledge, that's never happened."
"It's just disgusting, but it's not out of character at all," the 80-year-old father said of the police officer's comment
Image credits: Fox
The Boulder Police Department told The Independent in December 2023 that the "active investigation continues to receive assistance from federal, state, and local partners."
The previous year, it announced that it would be consulting the Colorado Cold Case Review Team, a Board under the Colorado Department of Public Safety, for help with the homicide investigation.
Furthermore, BPD stated that it has "digitized all evidence," including thousands of interviews conducted across 17 states, identification samples from 200 people, and 2,500 pieces of evidence.
In a press release shared in December 2023, Boulder police mentioned that they’re waiting for "proven and validated technology" to become available to solve the case.
"DNA testing continues to be an investigative focal point. DNA testing was previously completed, but the science behind DNA testing continues to rapidly evolve.
"The Boulder Police Department is working with leading DNA experts from across the county to ensure the latest forensic techniques are used to analyze remaining DNA samples.
"The evidence has been preserved and will continue to be ready for testing when there is proven and validated technology that can accurately test forensic samples consistent with the evidence available in this case."
Colorado Governor Jared Polis also believes the crime will be solved with modern DNA technology. In 2022, he told CBS: "I can say one thing. The killer of JonBenét Ramsey should not rest easy because I am still optimistic that he or she will be apprehended with technology that exists today, in five years, or ten years."
Anyone with information related to this investigation is asked to contact authorities at 303-441-1974 or by email at BouldersMostWanted@bouldercolorado.gov.
"Good for you, John. Don't give up," an X user commented
