John Ramsey, the father of JonBenet Ramsey, thought back on Christmas celebrations 27 years after his 6-year-old daughter was killed the day after Christmas in 1996 in the family’s Boulder basement.
After JonBenet was discovered dead, an autopsy determined that she had been strangled and had been struck in the head. Her skull fracture measured 8 1/2 inches, according to the Boulder City Medical Examiner. As of right now, the case is still under investigation, and no one is being held under suspicion.
“After a few years without celebrating Christmas, we decided that this wasn’t fair to Burke. Following the death of his daughter 27 years ago, John Ramsey, 80, told Fox News Digital, “We tried to give him a normal childhood.” “We must cherish the grandchildren we now have in our lives. This Christmas, we’ll spend time with [my son’s] kids and my daughter’s kids. We’ll have a happy Christmas. It’s important to keep in mind the true meaning of Christmas, which reinforces our beliefs about what life is all about.”
“It affects us, not just on December 26,” he went on. I’ve told folks that losing a child is something you never get over. It’s with us. You don’t go on. You’ve had a transformation. That must also be the case for my other kids. Although it’s terrible that they have to deal with it, you have to move on and make new memories.”
On the morning of December 26, 1996, JonBenet’s mother, the late Patsy Ramsey, who passed away from cancer in 2006, reported her 6-year-old son missing to the police. She had discovered a lengthy ransom note seeking $118,000 in exchange for JonBenet. Later that day, John Ramsey discovered her body in their basement.
Photographs of JonBenet and his eldest daughter, Beth, who passed away in a vehicle accident in 1992, according to Ramsey, “brightens” his day.
One consolation for Ramsey is that “JonBenet is in heaven.”
“I think she’s in heaven, even though I don’t understand it and never could. And it gives me peace,” he uttered.
Regarding the murder case of his daughter, Ramsey continues to hope that the Boulder Police Department (BPD) will identify a suspect by reexamining evidence from the 27-year-old case for DNA using modern technology and genetic genealogy tools that were unavailable in the 1990s.
The police department announced last year that it would be working with private DNA labs and consulting with the Colorado Cold Case Review Team, which is made up of cold-case experts from throughout the state, at some point in the upcoming year. This came after Ramsey petitioned Colorado Gov. Jared Polis to remove the case from BPD and allow an independent genetic genealogy company to test evidence. The team, according to BPD, is an instrument to support ongoing cold case investigations.
“We think there’s still hope for some movement and progress based on the new leadership and in the organization,” Ramsey stated. “So we’re cautiously hopeful that some progress and effort is being made to do those things we’ve asked be done.”
According to BPD, it has followed up on leads from over 21,000 tips, letters, and emails. It has also reportedly visited 19 states and spoken with over 1,000 persons regarding the investigation.
However, according to Ramsey, a small portion of Americans would “not believe it” even if “the killer confessed, was arrested, convicted, and in prison.”
“We have a large network of friends and support for the people who matter.” And I said to them, “Look, once your reputation is damaged—whether through fairness or unfairness—it never returns to its original state.” There will always be skeptics and doubters, he remarked. It’s the same crowd that believes there was no moon landing and that Elvis still resides in Boca Raton. The Bible refers to them as idiots.”
The 80-year-old grandfather and father claimed he makes an effort to avoid thinking about equity.
“I’ve shared with others the two lessons I’ve learned: first, life isn’t fair. Thus, don’t focus on justice. And it’s not an easy life. Life is full of risk. And once, I heard someone say to me, “Oh, I want to be famous and rich.” “Well, rich is OK, but you don’t want to be famous,” I responded to him. “Certainly, with the internet and social media, it’s an easy platform to target people with hate and mean comments.”
When Ramsey said his family was “being vilified in the media and by the police, people on the street were wonderful” to them, it was just after JonBenet’s murder. At the time, he felt “uplifted” by strangers.
“At that point, it didn’t matter what terrible things people had said about us in the press or elsewhere. Our kid had died. It was incapable of doing us any more harm,” Ramsey remarked. Unfairness affects a lot of people, but you just don’t let it get to you. Keep it out of your mind.”
Although the father of five has been dissatisfied with BPD’s handling of the case for almost thirty years, he is hoping that recent changes within the police force could reveal new information. For the FBI and other federal authorities to become engaged in instances involving children under the age of twelve right away, he has recently concentrated his efforts on making child murder a federal crime.
“I want to see the complete application of our nation’s resources to the murder of a child, making it a federal crime for anyone under the age of twelve.” Leaving the decision-making to the local police department is ridiculous. A portion of them choose wisely. They bring assistance,” he remarked. “We have 18,000 police jurisdictions in this country, approximately, and for that authority to be vested in each of those chief of police officers is risky.”