Police refuse to sit on evidence as Netflix doc draws renewed attention to JonBenet Ramsey’s murder

DENVER (AP) — Amid renewed interest in the the murder of JonBenet Ramsey Sparked in part by a new Netflix documentary, police in Boulder, Colorado, this week refuted claims that there is solid evidence and leads about the 1996 slaying of the 6-year-old girl that they are not pursuing.

Beauty pageant contestant JonBenet Ramsey was found dead in the basement of her family’s home in the college town of Boulder the day after Christmas in 1996. Her body was found hours after her mother called 911 to say her daughter was missing and a ransom note had been left. The details of the crime and video footage of JonBenet competing in pageants propelled the case into one of the highest-profile mysteries in the United States.

Police comments came as part of their annual update on the investigation, a month before the 28th anniversary of JonBenet’s murder. Police said they released it a little earlier because of the increased attention on the case, apparently in reference to the three-part Netflix series “Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey.”

In a video statement, Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn said the department welcomes news coverage and documentaries about the killing of JonBenet, who would have been 34 this year, as a way to generate possible new leads. He said the department is committed to solving the case but must be careful about what it shares about the investigation to protect a possible future prosecution.

“What I can tell you, however, is that we have thoroughly investigated several individuals as suspects over the years, and we continue to be open-minded about what happened as we investigate the tips that come to investigators,” he said.

The Netflix documentary focuses on the mistakes of the police and the “media circus” surrounding the case.

JonBenet was robbed and strangled. Her death was ruled a homicide, but no one was ever prosecuted.

Police were widely criticized for mishandling the early investigation into her death amid speculation that her family was responsible. But a prosecutor cleared her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, and brother Burke in 2008 based on new DNA evidence from JonBenet’s clothing that pointed to the involvement of an “unexplained third party” in her murder.

The announcement by former District Attorney Mary Lacy came two years after Patsy Ramsey died of cancer. Lacy called the Ramseys “victims of this crime.”

John Ramsey has continued to advocate for the case to be resolved. In 2022, he supported an online petition asking Colorado’s governor to intervene in the investigation by putting an outside agency in charge of DNA testing in the case. In the Netflix documentary, he said he has been advocate for more items not prepared for DNA testing and for other items to be retested. He said the results should be put through a genealogical database.

In recent years, investigators have identified suspects in unsolved cases by comparing DNA profiles from crime scenes and with DNA test results shared online by people researching their family trees.

In 2021, the police said in their annual update DNA had not been ruled out help solve the case, noting in 2022 that some evidence could be “consumed” if DNA tested on it.

Last year, police said they convened a panel of outside experts to review the investigation to make recommendations and determine whether updated technologies or forensic tests could provide new leads. In the latest update, Redfearn said the review had concluded but police were continuing to work through and evaluate a “long list of recommendations” from the panel.

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Amy Beth Hanson contributed to this report from Helena, Montana.