JonBenét Ramsey's father speaks out on DNA test 'that could solve' murder 28 years later
Almost three decades have passed since JonBenét Ramsey was murdered after her family received a ransom note demanding $118,000 for her safe return.
JonBenét was just six years old when she was abducted from her home in Boulder, Colorado, on Boxing Day (December 26) in 1996 - having been beaten, sexually assaulted and then strangled to death in their home.
Police were able to recover a murder weapon which was used to kill JonBenét - a garrotte - and after examining it they recovered the DNA of an unknown male.
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But her now 80-year-old father John Bennett Ramsey has claimed detectives stopped their investigation at this point because they didn't run the DNA through their database.
He appeared on NBC's The Today Show this morning (November 21) to discuss Netflix's new three-part docuseries Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey which is set to premiere on Monday (November 25).
Ramsey said: "There's been some horrible failures in that space for the last 25 years. Hopefully there's someone who knows something that would come forward, so we want to keep the case alive and in front of people.
"I believe it can be solved if the police accept help from outside their system - that's been the flaw for 25 years. For 25 years, the police department was contained; very poor leadership. Which is tragic, they had no experience.
"The fellow investigating our case for 25 years was an auto theft investigator before he took the case over. It was a roadblock."
He continued: "They wouldn't accept help from the outside. We are hopeful now with the new police chief that he will exercise good leadership and accept help.
"To my knowledge they have not worked with federal agencies, and there has been so much offered.
"I won't give up pressing the authorities to do their job until I see that they do their job. And that's been the frustration for 25 years."
Just two months prior to his appearance, he featured on the series True Crime News, as host Ana Garcia highlighted how seven items deemed 'critical evidence' for the case remain untested for DNA.
John replied: “To our knowledge, that’s correct. These items were sent originally in January 1997 to the lab for testing were returned untested.”
The episode is the first in the new series, which will examine large profile true crime as well as less well-known cases covered in local news.
Boulder Police Department told UNILAD: “The killing of JonBenet was an unspeakable crime and this tragedy has never left our hearts,” Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn said.
“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.”
Topics: True crime, Netflix, US News
Joe Yates