Since 1996, the world has been asking a haunting question. What happened to JonBenét Ramsey?
The 6-year-old beauty pageant winner was the victim of a homicide and since the crime, the case has never been solved. Many acknowledge that Colorado police botched the case by looking inside the home at the family members when there was evidence of an intruder. Now, ahead of the new Netflix documentary Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey, many are hoping that the case will finally be solved. No one is more hopeful than JonBenét’s father John Bennett Ramsey, who has spent the last 30 years trying to get justice (JonBenét’s mother, Patsy Ramsey, died in 2006). He spoke to People Magazine about what it would take to finally get a resolution.
“We’re begging the police to engage. There are cutting-edge DNA labs that want to help and who believe they can move the case forward.”
This would require Boulder police to reach out to private institutions, which Ramsey is claiming they are unwilling to do.
“We’re not asking them to do anything weird. Just do your job. Test the DNA.”
Ramsey states that DNA in the case would prove who did it because there are several pieces of evidence that were never tested. One of these items was the murder weapon in the case. The garotte used in the strangulation, the ransom note, and a suitcase found near the open window of the house have never been analyzed. This is such a large oversight that Ramsey remarks the police are culpable.
“If it stays in the hands of the Boulder Police, it will not be solved, period. If they accept help, all the help that’s out there, that’s available and offered, it will be solved. Yes, I believe it will be solved.”
Now age 80, Ramsey has spent a significant portion of his life without any solace. The only potential for resolution may come from the media, as it typically does.
Netflix’s JonBenét documentary may shed some light on the subject
Media attention sometimes goes a long way toward providing necessary momentum for cases. While the Menendez brothers admitted their guilt in the crime of killing their parents, Ryan Murphy’s Monsters series has drawn enough attention to make authorities take a second glance at the case. The fictionalized film starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst, All Good Things, was the catalyst that led to The Jinx, the documentary that caught Robert Durst’s confession on television.
Netflix’s documentary, Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey, is far from the first attention-grabbing series about the murder, but it does focus on something significant: The handling of the original case. It is widely acknowledged that the biggest mistake of the investigation was how authorities let pieces of evidence fall by the wayside because they were convinced the Ramsey family was culpable. They even turned their attention to JonBenét’s older brother, Burke, who was only 9 at the time.
60 Minutes Australia revealed that a new investigation could lead to uncovering this evidence and maybe finally put this tragic story to rest. Viewers can catch all the details when Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey premiers on Netflix on November 25.