Little JonBenét was reported missing on December 26, 1996. Hours later, her father, John Ramsey, found JonBenét's body in the basement. While John was exonerated alongside Patsy and Burke, JonBenet's mother and brother, respectively, the murder of the 6-year-old beauty queen remains unsolved, 28 years after the fact.
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"There have been horrible failures," Ramsey told TODAY, during a Thursday interview. He sat down alongside Joe Berlinger, director of "Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?", a Netflix docuseries. "But I believe it can be solved if police accept help from outside their system. That's been their flaw," he continued. "For years, in my judgment, the police department had very poor leadership; they wanted us to stay out of their way."
"The fellow who investigated our case was an auto theft investigator before our case. I never criticized them for not having experience — I criticized them for refusing help from people who did. And it was offered." Ramsey would later say that authorities needed to accept the offered help and hoped that the new police chief could do just that to finally solve JonBenét's murder case.
A 28-Year-Old Cold Case
When John Ramsey found JonBénet's body in his basement, she had a garrote around her neck and a broken skull. It appeared someone had hit the girl on the back of her head, violently. Both he and Patsy Ramsey were indicted on counts of child abuse resulting in death and accessory to a crime.
However, the indictment papers were not signed by Alex Hunter, the district attorney at the time, due to a lack of evidence. Eventually, in 2008, DNA analysis exonerated JonBénet's family, connecting the evidence to an unknown male. Patsy Ramsey would die in 2006, never to know who took the life of her daughter.
Since 1996, authorities have failed to identify the man responsible for JonBenét's murder. Last December, the City of Boulder issued a statement. In said statement, it was announced that a task force was investigating the murder.
"We will continue to pursue all leads and explore technology advancements to identify JonBenet's killer," Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said in the statement. "I also commit to providing the community and family with investigative updates as new evidence emerges"
"Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?" is available now on Netflix.
