JonBenét Ramsey Was Murdered 28 Years Ago at Age 6. Now Her Dad John Is Speaking Out: 'It Will Be Solved' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

The long-awaited answer to the mystery surrounding JonBenét Ramsey’s 1996 murder could already be in the hands of the police, says her father.

Police in Boulder, Colo.,  just won’t give the OK to proceed with DNA testing of potentially bombshell evidence—genetic material left on the handmade garrote used to strangle his 6-year-old daughter and other items found at the crime scene, John Ramsey tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview.

“We’re begging the police to engage,” says Ramsey, 80. “There are cutting-edge DNA labs that want to help and who believe they can move the case forward.”

But in Boulder, he says, “The chief of police is in charge. Nobody can come in and help him with solving a crime unless he asks for help.”

“We’re not asking them to do anything weird,” says John. “Just do your job. Test the DNA.”

ABL Studio/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Ramsey opens up to PEOPLE in an exclusive interview ahead of the upcoming Netflix docuseriesCold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?,streaming Monday, Nov. 25.

The three-part series reexamines one of the most high-profile, sensational murder cases of all time. It unfolded after John found his young beauty pageant queen daughter dead in a rarely-used basement room in an upscale Boulder, Colo., neighborhood on the morning of Dec. 26, 1996.

Erik S. Lesser

Their son, Burke, who was 9 at the time of his sister’s murder, also fell under suspicion.

“We assumed that the police would show some level of discernment and wisdom and say, ‘Yeah, well this is crazy, to think [we] murdered our child,’” says John. “Well, they never did. They made that decision on day one, and tried desperately to prove it.”

John Ramsey.Donna Svennevik/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Donna Svennevik/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

“Of the items sent to labs in the beginning, six or seven of them were returned untested,” he says. “We don’t know why they were not tested, but they were not tested. The garrote used to strangle JonBenét and a number of items just were sent back.”

The evidence also includes the dramatic ransom note and a suitcase found under an open basement window where some believe the killer entered and exited the home.

The Ramsey’s home in Boulder, Colo.Paul Sakuma/AP/Shutterstock

Neither John, Patricia or Burke were ever charged in connection with the murder. Patsy died in 2006.

Nearly three decades after his daughter’s murder, Ramsey says he is hopeful that the killer will be found.

“If it stays in the hands of the Boulder Police, it will not be solved, period,” he tells PEOPLE. “If they accept help, all the help that’s out there, that’s available and offered, it will be solved. Yes, I believe it will be solved.”

For more about John Ramsey’s fight to see JonBenéts murder solved in his lifetime,subscribe now to PEOPLEor pick up the new issue of People, on newsstands next week.

source: people.com