Murder Evidence Lost?

Authorities reportedly have lost evidence in the murder investigation of JonBenet Ramsey, forcing them to retrace their steps.

Detectives have told friends of the Ramseys they no longer have evidence from some interviews and palm prints that the friends had given earlier, the Rocky Mountain News reported Sunday.

In one case, evidence from two interviews conducted the day after the 6-year-old’s body was found on Dec. 26, 1996, was missing just two weeks later, sources told the News. The paper did not specify whether the lost evidence was tapes or written notes from the interviews.

Four sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Rocky Mountain News that they were asked to resubmit to evidence testing and interviews.

Police did not return calls for comment.

Adams County District Attorney Bob Grant, who has acted as a consultant in the case to Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter, said it is not unusual for investigators to cover the same ground twice. That could explain the requests for new interviews, he said.

“If you go and take a fingerprint from somebody, you don’t necessarily take a palm print,” he said. “If you interview somebody about item A, B and C, and you go back and interview them again about D, E and F, it doesn’t mean you don’t ask them again about A, B and C.”