BOULDER, Colo. — The Boulder Police Department released its annual update on the investigation into JonBenét Ramsey's murder on Tuesday, one month before what would be 28 years since the child was found dead inside her home.
On Dec. 26, 1996, 6-year-old JonBenét was reported missing from her home, located in the 700 block of 15th Street, after her family found a ransom note. Patsy Ramsey, her mother, called 911 at 5:52 a.m. that day, frantically telling police that JonBenét had been kidnapped. Her body was later found inside the basement of the home, and an autopsy determined her cause of death was strangulation.
JonBenét's murder has not been solved, despite nearly three decades' worth of searching: detectives have followed up on more than 21,000 tips and spoken with more than 1,000 people across 19 states about the case, according to the City of Boulder.
“The killing of JonBenet was an unspeakable crime and this tragedy has never left our hearts,” Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn said in the update, provided via X. “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.”
Boulder Police's annual updates on JonBenét's murder case are usually shared in December; however, the department said it was releasing this year's update early "due to the increased attention on this investigation." On Monday, Nov. 25, Netflix released "Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey," a three-episode docuseries about the case, which is currently trending on the streaming platform.
Although police did not make a direct reference to the Netflix docuseries in their update, they refuted a couple of statements that were made in the show, including one from John Ramsey, JonBenét's father.
"What we're advocating for, and we have been doing so for the last year or so, aggressively, is we know there's five or six items that were taken from the crime scene, sent into a lab for DNA sampling, and were not sampled," Ramsey says in the series' third and final episode. In their yearly update, Boulder Police said, "The assertion that there is viable evidence and leads we are not pursuing—to include DNA testing—is completely false."
In its final episode, the docuseries also states that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation assembled a panel of experts to review JonBenét's cold case in 2023. Boulder Police's update emphasized that it was their department, not the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, who convened a Cold Case Review Panel.
The Boulder Police Department has received criticism for its handling of JonBenét's murder case, including from her family members, who were once suspects. In 2022, a petition to Governor Jared Polis asked to transfer evidence away from Boulder Police, allowing a separate agency to investigate the case. JonBenét's father publicly supported that petition.
Nearly 28 years after JonBenét's murder, Boulder Police are still looking for answers. The department is asking anyone with information about JonBenét's murder to contact detectives at BouldersMostWanted@bouldercolorado.gov or by calling the Boulder Police tip line at 303-441-1974.
