Police say new evidence gathered in JonBenét Ramsey killing

Nearly three decades after JonBenét Ramsey’s mysterious killing, Colorado police said her cold case is still a top priority.

In an annual update, the Boulder Police Department urged anyone with information to come forward about the killing of the 6-year-old child beauty queen in her childhood home in 1996. Ramsey’s killing has captivated international audiences for decades.

In the past year, Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said detectives have conducted several new interviews based on tips received and collected and tested new evidence. They did not release information about what new evidence has been gathered.

Meanwhile, police have reinterviewed people and retested other pieces of evidence using evolving DNA technology.

“It is never too late for people with knowledge of this terrible crime to come forward,” Redfearn said in a prerecorded video Dec. 12. “And I urge those responsible for this murder to contact us.”

The morning of Dec. 26, 1996, John and Patsy Ramsey called 911 after they found a ransom note for their daughter, who was missing. John Ramsey later found JonBenét dead in their home’s basement.

An autopsy ruled her cause of death as strangulation, and she had been sexually assaulted. Her skull was fractured. She had an unknown person’s DNA under her fingernails and in her underwear.

Patsy Ramsey died in 2006, a decade after her daughter’s death. In 2008, the local prosecutor cleared her family, including an older brother, as suspects because of DNA testing.

In his video, Redfearn, who joined the department in 2021 and became chief in 2024, said he had met with JonBenét’s family and said they shared the same goal of finding the girl’s killer. Boulder police encouraged anyone with information to contact BouldersMostWanted@bouldercolorado.gov or the police tip line at 303-441-1974.