Remembering the JonBenet Ramsey Case 12 Years Later

The murder of JonBenet Ramsey is 12 years old and 12 years cold. A murder that is listed with the likes of Jack the Ripper, the Zodiac killer and other unsolved cases, it has been indelibly marked in the minds of millions.

On December 26^th, the world heard about the death of 6-year-old beauty pageant contestant, JonBenet Ramsey. A child of luxury, JonBenet was found by her father in the basement of her home in Boulder, Colorado. Besides her blanket-swathed body, her mouth was covered with duct tape and a white cord had been wrapped around her neck and wrists. Newspapers reported that the girl had been garroted, strangled by the cord, as well as struck on the head.

Though morbid, JonBenet's murder was one of the first that held me in horrified curiosity and developed my interest in cold cases. I was barely a teenager at the time and though the media took on the case, the aftereffects didn't reach fever pitch until the case began to take confusing turns.

Patsy Ramsey told police that she'd found a two-page, handwritten ransom note on the early morning of December 26^th. After police arrived, John Ramsey not only helped search the house, but he picked up his murdered child and carried her upstairs, disturbing the crime scene. Police, friends and family walked in and out of the house over the following hours and days, contaminating any sort of evidence that remained.

Like the rest of the country, I was jaded by the O.J. Simpson acquittal the year before. So when newspapers reported that both the ransom note and the broken paintbrush handle used to make the garrote came from the home, I was tempted to point to the family as the culprits.

I remember the media becoming quickly disillusioned with the Ramseys, insinuating that Patsy Ramsey was a controlling stage mother and remarking on how odd it was that though the basement window was open, there were no tracks made in the snow outside. Attention flickered from Patsy to John, even to JonBenet's 12-year-old brother Burke, but nothing was ever set in stone. It was all speculation.

Assumptions continued over the years and I remember seeing JonBenet's face on the covers of gossip magazines instead of newspapers. The crime scene had been disturbed, evidence hadn't been properly examined--the case had been botched, leaving a six-year-old girl's murder unsolved.

I admit to believing that the Ramseys had something to do with the murder. I was young and hadn't yet realized that the media often have slants to their stories and what is reported as fact is very often just speculation.

It is both unsettling and a relief that the Ramseys were cleared the crime, despite the fact that it came two years after Patsy Ramsey's death of ovarian cancer. In 2006, John Mark Karr confessed to his involvement in the murder, but DNA tests proved otherwise. Hopefully, there will eventually be a breakthrough. Until then, the case is still open.

Anyone with tips about the person or persons responsible for JonBenet Ramsey's death should call 303-441-1636.

Rupa Mikkilineni, JonBenet Ramsey: 12 Years Later And Still a Mystery, CNN.com

Top 10 Unsolved Crimes: JonBenet Ramsey, Time.com