JonBenet Ramsey’s Father Wants New Investigation Into Daughter’s Death, Gov. Polis Responds

It’s been more than 25 years since 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was murdered at her Colorado home.

Her father, John Ramsey, is asking for a new investigation and has asked Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) to move the case from the Boulder police to an independent agency.

“Anyone who would do this to a child is just beyond sick. He may be still out there, and if he is, he’s probably killed other children,” Ramsey said, according to Inside Edition, adding that new technology should be used to identify his daughter’s killer. “Technology has advanced so far in 25 years, that to not go back and apply the latest technology is just foolish.”

JonBenet’s death shocked the nation on December 26, 1996, after her mother called police to report the young beauty queen missing. Patsy Ramsey called police after finding a ransom note demanding $118,000 for the safe return of her daughter. John found JonBenet’s body in the basement later that day.

On April 30, John began a petition asking Polis to allow the Ramsey family to hire their own independent agency to look into JonBenet’s death by retesting DNA, Fox News reported. He also spoke about independent testing during an appearance at CrimeCon in Las Vegas.

Polis responded last week, saying he would “look into how the state can assist in using new technology to further investigate this cold case and to identify JonBenét Ramsey’s killer.”

Polis told CBS Denver that if new DNA technology can be used, the Colorado Bureau Of Investigation will test the sample while it reviews cold cases.

“I can say one thing. The killer of JonBenet Ramsey should not rest easy because I am still optimistic that he or she will be apprehended with technology that exists today, in five years or in 10 years,” Polis told the outlet.

The Boulder Police Department (BPD) also released a statement responding to John’s request, saying its investigation has “never stopped.”

“Our investigation with federal, state and local partners has never stopped,” BPD Chief Maris Herold said in a statement to Fox. “That includes new ways to use DNA technology. We’ve always used state-of-the-art technology as it has been at the forefront of this investigation. Every time the DNA technology changed, we worked to make sure the evidence could be tested.”

Former Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey told CBS Denver that the testing John Ramsey has requested may not be able to be performed on the DNA sample found at the crime scene. He also expressed concern there may not be much of the sample left for when technology advances.

“It’s a very limited amount of DNA that was left at this crime scene and in this case you cannot afford to waste it,” Morrissey told the outlet, before taking a shot at John’s petition.

“To have this petition out there trying to put pressure on the governor to take this away from the lead law enforcement agency I think is ridiculous,” he said.

For years, the Ramseys were suspected of killing their daughter until they were “completely cleared” in 2008 by DNA testing. In 2006, John Mark Karr (now Alexis Valoran Reich after coming out as transgender) falsely confessed to killing JonBenet.

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