JonBenet Ramsey’s father, John Ramsey, says he plans to meet with the Boulder Police Department chief in Colorado next month, alongside a representative from an independent genetic genealogy research lab, as he pushes local authorities to allow an outside lab to test crime-scene evidence from his daughter’s unsolved 1996 murder case.
Thursday marks 28 years since 6-year-old JonBenet was found strangled and bludgeoned to death in the basement of her family’s Boulder home on Dec. 26, 1996, and her killer remains unknown.
“We have requested a meeting with [Boulder Police Department] Chief [Stephen] Redfearn in January. He said yup, absolutely, let’s get together,” John Ramsey, 80, told Fox News Digital. “We haven’t scheduled the day yet, but we’ll get that figured out. That’s an important meeting. We’re going to have a representative with us for one of these cutting-edge labs to explain what they can and can’t do. Hopefully, he will accept their help.”
Ramsey added that if the BPD chief agrees to allow an independent lab to conduct testing on the nearly three-decades-old crime scene items — something he’s been pushing to do for years — he will feel “comfortable we’ve got things moving.”
“The reason I’ve done these media interviews — Netflix, that documentary — is to keep pressure on the police. We’re not going to go away, folks,” Ramsey said.
“Colorado has over a thousand unsolved homicides, and we’re not going to be one of them.”
— John Ramsey
Ramsey wants police to retest certain evidence for traces of DNA, including external male DNA that federal officials disclosed in 1997, and test other items for the first time.
Private genetic genealogy databases have grown significantly over the last decade, and the technology used to identify and link DNA to specific individuals is more advanced than it has ever been, making the possibility of identifying a suspect in JonBenet’s murder using genetic evidence more promising than ever before.
There are more than 20 items in the case that have never been tested, including, but not limited to, a garrote found around JonBenet’s neck, a ransom note found in the Ramsey house on the morning of the murder, a suitcase found in the basement that authorities believe the killer used to escape out a window, an unknown flashlight found on the Ramsey family’s kitchen counter the morning of the murder and unknown rope found in brother Burke Ramsey’s room that day, according to public records initially obtained by journalist Paula Woodward, who has published two books about the Ramsey case.
While it is unclear if officials will be able to find or identify any suspects in the case by partnering with an independent lab with access to private databases, Ramsey is hopeful that it is the next step for him in his pursuit for justice for his daughter, whether it yields results or not.
“DNA is pretty complicated stuff. I have learned that,” Ramsey said, “but that’s the reason that needs to be retested. That’s the one step that we’re asking the police to do is engage one of these one or two cutting-edge labs in the world and see what we come up with … and we come up empty-handed, then I’ll say, ‘Thank you. You tried. That’s the best we can do right now with today’s technology. Thank you.’ But until we do that, we haven’t done everything that could be done.”
Ramsey said he finally feels hopeful that he and BPD are making “progress” in the case 28 years after his daughter’s murder.
BPD told Fox News Digital that the department has “regularly met with the family and plans to do so in 2025.”
Chief Redfearn is the fifth police chief to take on the case since 1996, and he was officially appointed in September after serving as the interim chief for the Boulder Police Department starting in January. BPD detectives have followed up on more than 21,000 tips, emails and letters and traveled to 19 states to interview or speak with more than a thousand people in connection with the case.
“The killing of JonBenet was an unspeakable crime and this tragedy has never left our hearts,” Redfearn said in a November statement reflecting on 28 years since JonBenet’s murder. “We are committed to following up on every lead and we are continuing to work with DNA experts and our law enforcement partners around the country until this tragic case is solved. This investigation will always be a priority for the Boulder Police Department.”
Local authorities have partnered with federal officials — including the FBI — and DNA experts from across the country, according to BPD.
“The murder of JonBenet Ramsey is a terrible tragedy and sparked years of unanswered questions and theories. Our office has successfully prosecuted other cold case homicides and many murder cases,” District Attorney Michael Dougherty said. “In every one of those cases, it was the evidence that proved the defendant(s) guilty. Whether it is DNA or other evidence, more is needed to solve this murder. I appreciate the collaboration with CBI, the FBI, and the Boulder Police Department.”
Officials have sorted through 2,500 pieces of evidence and approximately 40,000 reports with more than a million pages documenting the investigation. The Colorado Cold Case Review team has also provided BPD with a list of tips for the department to pursue, according to Redfearn.
