JonBenét Ramsey's father has long said that he would dedicate his life to getting answers in his daughter's tragic death. Now he's taking the next step in that process.
It has been over 25 years since 6-year-old JonBenét Ramsey was found dead in the basement of her family home on Christmas Day after allegedly being abducted at some time earlier that morning. Much of the early speculation in the case placed the Ramsey family under the spotlight, with many to this day believing that either John Ramsey, since-deceased wife Patsy Ramsey, or son Burke Ramsey was responsible for the little girl's death by strangulation. Members of the family were formally cleared in the investigation in 2008 after a decade-long media circus.
John Ramsey, now 78 years old, revealed his continued plans in pursuit of justice at CrimeCon 2022 in Las Vegas in late April 2022. He has launched a new petition asking Colorado Governor Jared Polis to open a new independent investigation into the murder, making the most of technological advances to finally bring closure to the family.
"It's a petition to hopefully get the state of Colorado to intervene and have the items from the crime scene that should be tested for DNA that haven't been tested," Ramsey explained to Fox News at the event.
Ramsey hopes that public appeals to a public figure will get the case moving. Though it isn't formally classified as such, he says that it is treated as a cold case.
Ramsey claims there are items that can be tested for DNA evidence using new technologies that may bring answers. The Boulder Police Department says otherwise, however, responding to Ramsey's comments and petition in a statement.
"We have a shared goal to bring justice — and hopefully some peace — to JonBenet's family and everyone who was impacted by her loss," Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said.
"Our investigation with federal, state and local partners has never stopped. That includes new ways to use DNA technology. We've always used state of the art technology as it has been at the forefront of this investigation. Every time the DNA technology changed, we worked to make sure the evidence could be tested."
The BPD also provided stats on the case, saying they have followed up on 21,016 tips, letters, and emails and traveled to 19 states to interview more than 1,000 individuals in connection to JonBenét's murder. They assert they've collaborated with other agencies on the federal, state, and local levels on the case, as recently as March 2022. The petition calling for answers has over 2,000 signatures.
