The father of JonBenét Ramsey, the six-year-old girl who was murdered inside the basement of her Colorado home more than 25 years ago, said that he has no confidence that Boulder police will bring her killer or killers to account.
JonBenét Ramsey’s body was found on December 26, 1996 and no arrest has ever been made in the case. In an interview with 9News in Boulder, John Ramsey was asked whether he believes the case will ever be solved.
“Not if it stays in the hands of the Boulder Police, no, I don’t, I really don’t,” he told the outlet.
Boulder police last week issued a press release updating those interested on what it described as an “ongoing homicide investigation.” The release contained little new content, but rather summerised the work that detectives have already done on the case.
That work has been extensive. Boulder police said they have interviewed more than 1,000 individuals in 19 different states about the murder and recieved more than 21,000 tips — but it has not lead to an arrest.
One section of the release addressed a major point of contention in the handling of the case: DNA evidence that has not yet been tested.
“The amount of DNA evidence available for analysis is extremely small and complex,” the Boulder Police Department stated in its release. “The sample could, in whole or in part, be consumed by DNA testing. In collaboration with the CBI and the FBI, there have been several discussions with private DNA labs about the viability of continued testing of DNA recovered from the crime scene and genetic genealogy analysis. Those discussions will continue.”
Mr Ramsey strugged to understand that assessment.
“Why aren’t those being tested? They should be. Right now. Waiting for the next generation of DNA technology is silly,” Mr Ramsey told the television station. “Why in the world you wouldn’t test them now, given that the technology has advanced dramatically in 25 years, I don’t understand that.”
Mr Ramsey said that he last month sent a letter to Gov Jared Polis asking him to intervene and ensure that the DNA evidence would be tested, but that he has not heard back. Mr Polis, who was in the midst of a re-election campaign when Mr Ramsey sent the letter, won a second term last week.
In addition to his frustration over the handling of the case, Mr Ramsey said that he has not been updated by the institutions responsible for the investigation. Mr Ramsey’s wife Patsy, JonBenét’s mother, died in 2006.
“Boulder police has never contacted me, nor has the DA’s office,” Mr Ramsey told the television station.
