JonBenet Ramsey's father, police meet for 'important' discussion over unsolved child pageant star's murder
JonBenet Ramsey's father, John Ramsey, met with Boulder Police Department Chief Stephen Redfearn on Monday to discuss the 6-year-old's unsolved 1996 murder case.
Twenty-eight years have passed since JonBenet was found strangled and bludgeoned to death in the basement of her family's Boulder, Colorado home on Dec. 26, 1996, and her killer remains unknown.
"We can confirm that Chief Redfearn and members of our Operations Division met with the family this week as the department has previously to share updates on the case," a Boulder PD spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "Beyond that we cannot answer specific questions because this is an active and ongoing homicide investigation."
John Ramsey told Fox News Digital about his plans to meet with Redfearn in December and noted that he meets with Boulder police at least once per year to discuss updates in the case.
Jonbenet Ramsey's Dad Suggests Daughter's Killer Motivated By Money In Resurfaced Interview
"That's an important meeting. We're going to have a representative with us for one of these cutting-edge labs to explain what they can and can't do. Hopefully, he will accept their help," Ramsey said at the time, adding that if the BPD chief agrees to allow an independent lab to conduct testing on the nearly three-decades-old crime scene items — something he's been pushing to do for years — he will feel "comfortable we've got things moving."
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Ramsey has been pushing police in recent years to retest certain evidence for traces of DNA, including external male DNA that federal officials disclosed in 1997, and test other items for the first time.
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Private genetic genealogy databases have grown significantly over the last decade, and the technology used to identify and link DNA to specific individuals is more advanced than it has ever been, making the possibility of identifying a suspect in JonBenet's murder using genetic evidence more promising than ever before.
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There are more than 20 items in the case that have never been tested, including, but not limited to, a garrote found around JonBenet's neck, a ransom note found in the Ramsey house on the morning of the murder, a suitcase found in the basement that authorities believe the killer used to escape out a window, an unknown flashlight found on the Ramsey family's kitchen counter the morning of the murder and unknown rope found in brother Burke Ramsey's room that day, according to public records initially obtained by journalist Paula Woodward, who has published two books about the Ramsey case.
Jonbenet's Father Challenges Colorado Governor To Meet: 'Time For Answers Is Running Out'
While it is unclear if officials will be able to find or identify any suspects in the case by partnering with an independent lab with access to private databases, Ramsey is hopeful that it is the next step for him in his pursuit for justice for his daughter, whether it yields results or not.
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"DNA is pretty complicated stuff. I have learned that," Ramsey said, "but that's the reason that needs to be retested. That's the one step that we're asking the police to do is engage one of these one or two cutting-edge labs in the world and see what we come up with … and we come up empty-handed, then I'll say, 'Thank you. You tried. That's the best we can do right now with today's technology. Thank you.' But until we do that, we haven't done everything that could be done."
Officials have sorted through 2,500 pieces of evidence and approximately 40,000 reports with more than a million pages documenting the investigation. The Colorado Cold Case Review team has also provided BPD with a list of tips for the department to pursue, according to Redfearn.Original article source: JonBenet Ramsey's father, police meet for 'important' discussion over unsolved child pageant star's murder
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