Police investigating the 26-year murder of childhood beauty pageant queen JonBenét Ramsey could finally be one step closer to catching her killer.
A police insider has told US news website The Messenger that “there are several people on the radar … new persons of interest.”
“And we are seeing if any of them are the key to solving this case. Time will tell if we get the answers we need. This is a marathon, not a sprint.”
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The body of six-year-old JonBenét was discovered by her father, John, on December 26, 1996, in the basement of the family’s home in Boulder, Colorado.
Duct tape had been placed over her mouth and a cord wrapped around her neck.
An autopsy determined JonBenét was killed by strangulation and a skull fracture.
At the time, the girl’s death was ruled a homicide, but no-one has been charged for her killing.
In 2021, Boulder Police Department announced they’d begun to analyse nearly 1000 DNA samples.
Detectives have also interviewed more than 1000 people in 19 states who could have a possible connection to the case.
The article on The Messenger, which was published on September 26, comes after police used new DNA technology to test at least five pieces of previously unexamined evidence earlier this year.
It’s unclear if this testing led to the new persons of interest in the case.
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“Suspects and witnesses can come from a variety of places,” the police source further explained.
“It’s not just the DNA, it’s what happens when you investigate a very difficult case.”
News of the breakthrough was no doubt welcomed by the Ramsey family – especially JonBenét’s heartbroken father. John, who turns 80 in December, has been fighting for answers to his daughter’s murder for almost three decades.
“We are encouraged by this new leadership in our case and are now finally hopeful for progress,” John told US publication Westword late last month.
Initially, suspicions fell on John, his wife Patsy and JonBenét’s older brother Burke, who was nine at the time of the murder.
John and Patsy were primary suspects for more than a decade until 2008, when DNA evidence cleared the family of any involvement in the little girl’s death.
Patsy had died two years earlier from ovarian cancer at 49.
It’s a huge step forward for the family, who over the years have heavily criticised the work of Boulder Police.
When asked by 9News in November 2022 if he thought the case would ever be solved, John replied, “Not if it stays in the hands of the Boulder Police, no, I don’t. I really don’t.”
Boulder Police refute this. In 2022 they released a statement saying the department has followed up on “every lead” that has come in, including
more than 21,016 tips, letters and emails.
“We have a shared goal to bring justice – and hopefully some peace – to JonBenét’s family and everyone who was impacted by her loss,” police chief Maris Herold said in 2022.
“Our investigation with federal, state and local partners has never stopped,” she added at the time.
To date, the murder of JonBenét remains one of the most famous cold cases in US history.
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