This time of year is always very difficult for John Ramsay.
Thursday marks 28 years since JonBenet's six-year-old daughter was found dead in the basement of the family home in Boulder, Colorado, beaten and sexually assaulted.
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New hope
There were no arrests at all, just a flood of leads, suspects and links that failed to charge someone with the most heinous crimes.
John was highly critical of the Boulder Police Department when he spoke to The US Sun at CrimeCon in Nashville earlier this year, claiming that some cops “wanted him dead” so the case could be covered up once and for all.
However, with new Chief Steve Redfearn taking charge and able to bring in help from the FBI, there is new hope for the case in 2025.
For 12 years, John and his late wife, Patsy, were the prime suspects in JonBenet's murder.
However, in 2008, they were exonerated after DNA evidence was found on JonBenet's clothes and under her fingernails which linked her to a male, although no matches have been made to date.
A recent Netflix documentary has sparked renewed interest, and John is hopeful that DNA evidence can finally find the killer, especially now that authorities have expanded their pool of detectives and detectives.
“We are encouraged that police will finally use the skills and resources of the FBI to help solve our case,” John told The US Sun, clearly encouraged by the new direction Redfern could take the investigation.
John and his family have been urging authorities to incorporate cutting-edge DNA analysis in the desperate race to remove the “cloud” hanging over them all.
Going forward, he wants any killing of children to immediately become a federal crime, with the legislation then allowing the FBI to investigate.
“It is astonishing that the FBI does not have the jurisdiction to take this case,” John said in June.
“But this is the country we live in. It's crazy.”
DNA testing
Fortunately, that has changed for John, who is heading into the new year with renewed optimism.
Several crime scene items could contain crucial DNA but were never tested, including the ransom note, a broom handle, a suitcase filled with JonBenet's clothes and books, and a flashlight.
Lou Smit, the former Colorado detective who led the charge to find JonBenet's killer, always assured the Ramsey family that DNA would solve the case.
“We have been asking and praying about this for the past 28 years,” John said.
BPD has previously expressed concerns about DNA testing, fearing it could be compromised but is now moving forward with the investigation.
Advances in cutting-edge DNA laboratories certainly offer new, effective hope.
Forensic genetic genealogy (FGG) was used to arrest him Joseph James DeAngeloit's called Golden State Killerin 2018. Specialized laboratories, such as the Outram Laboratory in Texas, are solving cold cases with increasing regularity using advanced genetic genealogy.
“Suppose they now use cutting-edge DNA laboratories to develop a DNA profile in the appropriate format for family genealogy research,” John continued. “In this case, we have very good odds of finding the identity of the killer.”
JonBenet was found badly beaten on December 26, 1996, hours after her mother, Patsy Ramsey, reported her missing.
The suspects in the JonBenét Ramsey case have been investigated
Child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, age 6, was found dead in the unfinished wine cellar section of the basement of her family home in Boulder, Colorado, on December 26, 1996.
JonBenét's parents reported her missing after her mother, Patsy, found a handwritten ransom note on the stairs leading to the back of the family home.
Hours passed without any sighting or word from JonBenet's alleged kidnappers as Boulder police combed the house and surrounding area.
JonBenet's body was eventually found in the basement by her father, John Ramsay. A rope was tied tightly around her neck, and at the end of the rope was a broken paintbrush.
An autopsy concluded that the 6-year-old had been sexually assaulted and tortured.
In the decades since the unsolved murder, detectives have investigated several potential suspects connected to the JonBenet case.
List of suspects:
- John and Patsy Ramsey: At the beginning of the investigation, police focused on JonBenet's parents and her 9-year-old brother, Burke. Boulder police believed Patsy wrote the ransom note at the scene after she allegedly became angry that JonBenet wet the bed. The police claimed that Patsy brutally injured her daughter in a fit of rage, causing her death and making the crime a kidnapping. The parents were exonerated when DNA evidence was found under JonBenet's fingernails and on her clothes and underwear linked to an unidentified male. The DNA did not match John, Patsy, or Burke Ramses.
- John Mark Carr: In 2002, John Mark Carr, a primary school teacher living in Thailand at the time, began corresponding with an investigative journalist. Carr revealed details about JonBenét's murder that were not known to the public. With the help of journalist Michael Tracy, authorities arrested Carr in Bangkok and extradited him to Boulder. But the case reached a dead end again after Carr's DNA did not match samples taken from the crime scene. Carr's estranged wife also provided an alibi, saying Carr was in North Carolina on the day JonBenét was killed. Despite his acquittal, Carr continued to claim that he was with JonBenet when she died.
- Gray Oliva: The Sun newspaper has widely reported on how multiple convicted pedophile Gary Oliva confessed to killing JonBenet in letters to a high school friend. Oliva was released from prison in January 2024 after serving less than eight years of a 10-year prison sentence for child pornography. In letters to high school friend Michael Fell, Oliva confessed several times to killing JonBenet, claiming it was an accident. Oliva was living in the Boulder area on and off at the time of JonBenét's killing, police said. Despite his obsession with JonBenet, Olivia is exonerated through DNA evidence.
- Michael Helguth: At the time of the 1996 murder, Michael Helguth was working at a nearby auto salvage yard. Helgoth owned a pair of Hi-Tec boots that seemed to match an impression left at the crime scene. He also possessed a stun gun — a weapon investigators believe the murder suspect used on JonBenét. Private investigator Ollie Gray claimed that Helgoth's family possessed a recorded confession of guilt. Helgoth died by suicide in 1997. However, DNA evidence found at the scene did not match Helgoth's evidence.
- John Brewer Eustace: Investigators in the JonBenet case traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina in 1997 after learning that John Brewer Eustace had broken into a home, kidnapped and sexually assaulted a 2-year-old toddler. When the police searched Eustace's belongings, they discovered a notebook containing clippings about the JonBenet case. However, he was eventually ruled out as a suspect after a “very solid” alibi confirmed that Eustace was working in a factory on the night of JonBenet's murder.
Patsy, who died of cancer in 2006, discovered a handwritten ransom note demanding $118,000 for JonBenet's safe return. However, her father, John Ramsay, later found her lifeless body during a search of the house.
An autopsy concluded that the young beauty queen died of suffocation and was subjected to sexual assault and torture.
Over the years, investigators explored several suspects, including her parents and older brother Burke, but no arrests were made.
The case has not been far from the headlines over the past 28 years. However, following the release of the movie Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey, new tips have been provided to law enforcement in Boulder.
One alleged lead—a letter claiming the sender's ex-husband was the killer—proved inconclusive when attempts to contact the tipster failed.
Director Joe Berlinger tempered expectations, telling the US Sun that the bullets were “exaggerated,” while Boulder police confirmed they used modern forensic techniques to review the case.
With new Boulder Police Chief Steven Redfern in office and ever-increasing public pressure, investigators are feeling optimistic heading into the new year.
“It seems within reach,” a police source told the New York Post earlier this month, suggesting that justice for JonBenet may be forthcoming.
John agrees and prays that 2025 will be the year that the nightmare that has been haunting his family for so long will finally end.
“Life is not fair,” he admitted. “You just have to accept it. Remember the Monty Python movie Life of Brian when the man meets the knight at the bridge?
“You're standing there, with your arms cut off. You have to keep fighting! That's the image I still remember through all of this.”
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