John Ramsey on JonBenét Cold Case Review: "More Optimistic Than I've Been Since the Beginning"

Twenty-seven years after his daughter's murder, John Ramsey says he's starting 2024 with more hope than ever before.

"I am more optimistic than I've been since the beginning," he tells Westword following the completion of a year-long study by the Colorado Cold Case Review Team of the JonBenét Ramsey homicide case, which wrapped up last month.

Detectives with the Boulder Police Department and the Boulder County District Attorney's Office are "currently in the process of reviewing and prioritizing the team's recommendations," according to a December 28 announcement. "To preserve the integrity of the investigation, the specific recommendations will not be made public at this time," authorities say. "However, we are committed to following the recommendations generated from this cold case review."

The announcement came two days after the anniversary of JonBenét's 1996 murder, which saw the six-year-old pageant queen bludgeoned and strangled to death inside her family's home in Boulder. Her body was found in the basement by John Ramsey, who was at the residence on the night of the murder with his late wife, Patsy, and their son, Burke. The family has said it believes an intruder broke into the home and was ultimately responsible. A handwritten ransom note was left on the home's main staircase and reportedly found by Patsy, but authorities have been unable to link that note to any author.

While Ramsey has feuded with Boulder Police officials in the past, he says that things are much different now, with changes from the top down, both in the investigation and the BPD. "The police department finally has competent leadership, has dealt with the problems in the detective division, and has included the FBI in discussions on how to proceed," Ramsey tells Westword. "All I have asked is that they do all that is possible using the latest DNA sampling technology available in the private sector and then proceed based on the results."

Boulder County officials have been meeting with Ramsey and his oldest son, John Andrew, since January 2023 to provide updates on the cold case review, according to BPD officials and Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty.

"We always want to ensure that every possible avenue to solving a murder case has been pursued," Dougherty told Westword last September, ten months after the review was announced. "I am looking forward to the presentation."

A multi-agency team made up of representatives from the police department, FBI, DA's Office, Colorado Department of Public Safety and Colorado Bureau of Investigation collaborated and worked "extremely hard" on the renewed efforts — teaming up with "private labs that specialize in different types of DNA analysis," Dougherty said at the time.

According to the BPD, "An intensive effort digitized all evidence to create a comprehensive and searchable database containing thousands of information files, bringing together more than 21,000 tips, over 1,000 interviews conducted across seventeen states and two foreign countries, and samples from more than 200 different individuals, including handwriting, DNA, fingerprints and shoeprints."

The JonBenét case file is said to now consist of nearly 2,500 pieces of evidence and roughly 40,000 reports, "with more than one million pages documenting the investigation," according to BPD officials. "A fresh inventory of all collected evidence was made available for investigative review, which would not have been possible without the assistance of the FBI." BPD officials declined to comment on the timeline for when they believe the review's findings will be released, if at all. Dougherty tells Westword that "Boulder PD seems committed to sharing updates with the victim’s loved ones and the community," but can't say whether the findings or recommendations will ever come out.

Back in 2021, investigators with the BPD's Major Crimes Unit and Colorado Bureau of Investigation analyzed "touch DNA" evidence — DNA obtained from biological material transferred during physical contact — from the waistband of JonBenét's long johns on the night she was murdered and compared it to nearly 1,000 DNA samples to see if any matches came up. None did.

"The amount of DNA evidence available for analysis is extremely small and complex," BPD officials said in a November 2022 statement announcing the Cold Case Review Team's probe. "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. ... Whenever there is a proven technology that can reliably test forensic samples consistent with the samples available in this case, additional analysis will be conducted."

Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold told Westword in September that the BPD was working with "multiple agencies, private DNA labs and forensic experts" during the course of the cold case review. Herold joined the department in 2020 and has helped spearhead the new interest in the JonBenét case, according to the Ramseys.

"We are at this point because of new DNA tech, new leadership and a renewed commitment to finding JonBenét's killer," John Andrew Ramsey told Westword last fall. "It is a unique opportunity that should not be wasted."

In the past, the Ramseys had publicly criticized the BPD's handling of the infamous murder case, saying they felt detectives wasted valuable time treating family members as possible suspects and then ignoring them for years. Asked in November 2022 if he thought the case would ever be solved, John Ramsey told 9News, "Not if it stays in the hands of the Boulder police, no, I don't. I really don't."

Things appeared to finally thaw out last year, with John and John Andrew meeting with authorities multiple times — starting in January 2023, according to Herold — and publicly praising the BPD's renewed interest in JonBenét's case.

“These meetings are to keep clear communication on this investigation," the chief told Westword in September. "We are encouraged by this new leadership in our case and are now finally hopeful for progress," John Ramsey said at the time.

While the specifics are being kept under wraps, Dougherty says the Cold Case Review Team's findings and presentation "generated helpful recommendations" and "ensures that everything possible is being done to solve this tragic murder." What stands out most to him is the optimism surrounding the use of updated technology and genetic genealogy tools by investigators.

"From experience with cold cases, we look towards applying new scientific advances and creative approaches," Dougherty says. "Collaborative efforts with federal, state and local agencies bring renewed energy and strength to the resolution of a cold case homicide."

For Ramsey, it's these "new scientific advances and creative approaches" — especially when it comes to DNA testing and DNA evidence — that give him the most hope of catching JonBenét's killer.

"Lou Smit, the legendary Colorado detective who worked on our case for years until his death, told me this case will be solved by DNA," Ramsey concludes. "I believe that to be true."