JonBenét Ramsey cop makes bombshell admission as chief investigator reveals why fixing six-year-old magnificence queen’s homicide is now lastly ‘inside attain’
Police in Colorado say they believe they are close to solving the murder of JonBenét Ramsey, the six-year-old beauty queen whose death in December 1996, shocked the world.
The little girl was found strangled in her basement of the family’s Boulder home.
The killer of the Young Miss Colorado left her on a heap of clothes with an eight-inch fracture to her skull and a fragmented paint brush stuck into her neck by garrotte.
A bombshell admission by a police source has also given investigators fresh hope in finally solving the 28 year mystery.
‘We f****d the case up from the start, and now with new blood, we can finally fix it,’ a police source told the New York Post.
This stunning statement comes as Boulder’s newly appointed police chief, Stephen Redfearn, doubles down on efforts to crack the case.
Redfearn, who assumed his role in early 2024, has made solving the murder a top priority.
‘He wants it solved and off the books,’ said a department insider claimed. ‘He’s assigning officers and resources to solve the murder, which has been a black mark on the Boulder PD.
Police in Boulder, Colorado, believe in 2025 they may solve the infamous murder of six-year-old beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey, who was found dead in her home in December 1996
Boulder’s new police chief, Stephen Redfearn has prioritized the case, assigning fresh resources to break the decades-long mystery
The home where six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey was killed in Boulder, Colorado, pictured in 1996
‘I’m not sure what it will take to bust it wide open but it feels like it’s within reach. We’re hoping for 2025; this is our year,’ the investigator added.
No one has ever been caught for the murder but a new three-part true crime Netflix documentary, ‘Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey’, has also served to renew interest in one of America’s most notorious cold cases.
JonBenét’s murder has haunted investigators and gripped the public’s imagination.
While initial suspicions centered on her family—father John, mother Patsy, and brother Burke—DNA evidence excluded them as suspects in 1997, and they were formally exonerated in 2008.
Despite a multi-agency task force established in 2023, progress has been slow.
One investigator admitted that the task force has only met in person once but emphasized that members remain in regular contact.
Last week Chief Redfearn reaffirmed the department’s commitment to solving the case in his annual departmental update.
‘The killing of JonBenét was an unspeakable crime, and this tragedy has never left our hearts,’ Redfearn said.
Six-year-old beauty queen JonBenét’s body was found at her home in Boulder, Colorado on December 26, 1996
Crime scene photo at the Ramsey family home showed the open basement window which investigators believe JonBenét’s killer may have used. Her body was found under a blanket in a neighboring room that had been used as the wine cellar
JonBenét is pictured with her mother Patsy and brother Burke Ramsey in 1990
‘There have been horrible failures, but I believe it can be solved if police accept help from outside their system. That’s been their flaw,’ he said in a recent interview with Today, last week
‘We are committed to following up on every lead and continuing to work with DNA experts and our law enforcement partners around the country until this tragic case is solved.’
Still, the department’s credibility remains under fire.
John Ramsey, JonBenét’s father, has been vocal about his frustration with the investigation.
‘There have been horrible failures, but I believe it can be solved if police accept help from outside their system. That’s been their flaw,’ he said in a recent interview with Today.
Ramsey had long argued that Boulder PD had been unwilling to collaborate with external experts who might bring fresh perspectives to the case.
‘They need to accept the help that’s offered to them,’ said Ramsey, now 80. ‘There’s a new police chief brought in from the outside. I hope he accepts help so this can be solved.’
Ramsey urged police to go ‘deeper’ with the samples from the crime scene and ‘sort the DNA we have today and make more sense of it’.
He demanded that police finally sample five or six items that were taken from the crime scene but have never been analyzed.
He stated he wants items that have been tested to be resampled due to advances in technology and then compared with the public genealogy database to look for a potential match, as has been done in numerous other cold cases.
In the aftermath of her death, an ensuing media frenzy emerged with photograph after photograph of JonBenet on-stage wearing make-up, dancing and singing in costumes
John and Patsy Ramsey, the parents of JonBenét Ramsey, meet with a small selected group of the local Colorado media after four months of silence in Boulder, Colorado in May 1997
The couple were suspected of being involved in the murder of their daughter, but were later cleared due to DNA evidence. Pictured, the Ramsey family seen together in December 1993
Authorities have indeed sent several items for renewed DNA testing, but significant breakthroughs have so far remained elusive.
The DNA evidence in the case has long proved problematic with Boulder police being heavily criticized for mishandling the investigation.
In 2015, former Boulder police chief Mark Beckner admitted crime scene evidence may have been mishandled on a Reddit forum.
‘The crime scene was not handled properly and this later affected the investigation,’ he said.
A department insider defended their efforts, pushing back against claims of negligence.
‘The assertion that there is viable evidence and leads we are not pursuing—to include DNA testing—is completely false,’ Chief Redfearn stated.
The stakes are high for Redfearn and his team.
The case is one of the highest-profile mysteries in the US, and remains a cold case but there is now renewed interest following the release of a new Netflix documentary
It became quickly apparent large swathes of the public were just as interested in the ‘Hollywood star’ appearance of JonBenét, as they were in the killer’s identity
Child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey is seen in 1996, the year she died
The grave of JonBenet Ramsey in Marietta, Georgia, pictured
The case has not only tarnished the reputation of the Boulder Police Department but has also left an enduring wound in the community.
‘It hasn’t been as aggressive as anyone had hoped,’ admitted one investigator. ‘But now there’s a lot of pressure to get this solved.’
While the Ramsey family remains ‘cautiously optimistic’ about potential developments, the public’s patience is wearing thin.
Investigators hope the new year, along with new leadership will finally bring some progress to the JonBenét case.
‘I knew this could take years but with the right resources and mindset, I still believe justice is possible,’ said John Ramsey,
‘This investigation will always be a priority for the Boulder Police Department,’ Redfearn promised.
