DNA evidence collected from the home of JonBenet Ramsey nearly 27 years ago has been tested with the aim of using new technology to discover who strangled the 6-year-old beauty queen to death.
Law enforcement officials in Boulder, Colorado, recently received a detailed report outlining the results of the testing, The Messenger reported on Monday. Some of the materials had previously been examined, while others were sent out for testing only two months ago.
The report is not available to the public. The investigation remains ongoing.
Speaking in an interview with NewsNation last month, the child’s father, John Ramsey, said that he’s encouraged by the latest developments within the investigation, which might include new persons of interest.
“We’re very hopeful,” he said. “We know there was evidence taken from the crime scene that was never tested.”
Mr Ramsey said he wanted the examination of the materials to take place in new “cutting edge labs” that possess technology currently not available to the federal government.
He then wants that technology to be analysed against the public genealogy database, a tactic recently employed by law enforcement officials to solve decades-old cold cases.
Officials in Minnesota used DNA testing in 2015 to positively identify the suspect in the 1989 murder of 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling.
“Time will tell if this is the evidence needed to solve this case,” a police source told The Messenger. “I hope we get answers and more importantly, I hope her family finally gets answers.”
The child’s body was discovered in the basement of her family home on 26 December 1996. Her family was excluded as suspects in her murder weeks after she went missing and officials do not expect the new testing will lead them to a relative.
It’s thought that someone broke into their residence, struck the child in the back of the head and strangled her. An autopsy determined that JonBenet’s skull had been fractured. A garrote made from white rope and a broken paintbrush was found around her neck.
Amid a reshuffling in Boulder police leadership, officials asserted their intentions to continue working on the case. The department brought in a new chief of police and a new assistant chief.
The detective initially tasked with solving the murder was put on night patrol, Mr Ramsey said on the TV show, adding that the renewed interest in the case might be a result of the personnel changes.
