Drops of Jupiter

Twenty-five years ago, Boulder, Colorado was a simple mountain town. Devoid of glamor or grandeur, its blend of urbanism and wilderness adventures made it the ideal place to raise a family. That’s what John Ramsey thought when he moved his wife and two children into a monstrous 11,376 square foot mansion in Boulder. When his beautiful little daughter, JonBenet, was brutally murdered, however, Boulder was smeared with the fresh blood that only a sensationalized cold case could paint.

JonBenet Ramsey, immortally a six year old beauty queen is a household name, not only in the US but across the world. Her murder fascinated everyone, and her endearing blue eyes, curly blonde hair, and perfect pearly teeth enchanted the public. She was called the “perfect fantasy” for pedophiles, and her success in pageants publicized her in ways that could garner the wrong attention, wrong attention that would lead to her eventual murder.

The day after Christmas in 1996, Patsy Ramsey discovered a ransom note written with strange diction, demanding $118,000 for the return of their “kidnapped” daughter. The letter, written on stationary from within the home, was later one of the most incriminating pieces of evidence against the Ramsey parents. Stranger even is that the amount of money demanded is equal to the Christmas bonus Mr. Ramsey earned that year. By 1:30pm, little JonBenet’s body was discovered by her father in their basement and carried up to the living room. This, unfortunately, would not be the only terrible mistake in the case. Autopsy found that JonBenet passed by “asphyxiation by strangulation” and was also sexually assaulted, shocked with a taser, and struck by a blunt object that left a “skull fracture 9 inches long.” Despite the family’s insistence that there was an intruder, the only evidence of a break-in was a single footprint in the snow.

Although a puzzling case, this is not one that should still be unsolved. The inexcusable mistakes of the Boulder detectives are solely to blame for this 25 year old cold case. Ron Walker, an FBI agent on the case, said, “early errors…destroyed the case before it even got off the ground.” The parents should have been interviewed separately at the very beginning. The house should have been quarantined for detective search only. The police should have included more serious suspects besides the family, especially once DNA on JonBenet’s clothing cleared them of the crime. The FBI and other more experienced police departments should have been allowed to get involved sooner.

Although we cannot alter the past injustices in this case, it still has great hope of being solved. DNA genealogy, the same technology used in finding the Golden State Killer after 44 years, is hoped to be used for JonBenet’s case. CeCe Moore, an expert in DNA genealogy, says she is confident that if allowed to analyze the DNA samples found on JonBenet, she could find its match. Boulder police, however, are not handing the DNA evidence over to be analyzed by experts like Ms. Moore. John Ramsey is petitioning the Colorado governor to force the police to share the evidence they’ve collected.

Whether you believe that this infamous case can be solved or not, it should at least have the chance to. I urge you to sign the petition below so that JonBenet Ramsey, who would be 32 years old, has justice at last. With your help, perhaps the world can finally have their answer to who the monster is that killed this child.

SIGN THE PETITION: here

Works Cited

Allen, H. (2022, July 25). The breakthrough new DNA evidence that could find JonBenét Ramsey’s killer transcript. Rev. Retrieved August 5, 2022, from https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/the-breakthrough-new-dna-evidence-that-could-find-jonbenet-ramseys-killer-transcript 

Cantrell, A. (2021, May 11). Celebrities whose family members were murdered. Grunge.com. Retrieved August 5, 2022, from https://www.grunge.com/406280/celebrities-whose-family-members-were-murdered/ 

Miller, J. R. (2021, December 22). DNA ‘enhancements’ may solve JonBenet Ramsey killing 25 years later. New York Post. Retrieved August 5, 2022, from https://nypost.com/2021/12/22/jonbenet-ramseys-murder-may-be-solved-with-dna-enhancements/ 

Reynolds, E. (2016). Biggest police error over JonBenet revealed by first FBI agent … – news. Retrieved August 6, 2022, from https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/biggest-police-error-over-jonbenet-revealed-by-first-fbi-agent-on-scene/news-story/2d82e891d8d9b2031efd963cf92ef0ae 

Romine, T. (2022, May 4). JonBenet Ramsey’s father asks governor to have DNA testing in case done by outside agency. CNN. Retrieved August 5, 2022, from https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/03/us/jonbenet-ramsey-father-dna-petition/index.html