Not everyone caught up in JonBenet drama

JonBenet Ramsey

Child's murder unsolved a year later

December 25, 1997
Web posted at: 2:49 p.m. EST (1949 GMT)

BOULDER, Colorado (CNN) -- A year ago, the Boulder home of John and Patsy Ramsey was bustling with Christmas activity.

Their 6-year-old daughter JonBenet received a bicycle, among other gifts. The day after Christmas, she died. The Ramseys' Tudor home is now empty and for sale. They moved months ago to an Atlanta suburb.

And the child's killer is still at large. There have been no arrests.

CNN's Greg LaMotte reports from Boulder 2 min., 25 sec. VXtreme streaming video

Some Boulder residents are struggling to keep JonBenet's memory alive, while others don't understand why there's still so much interest in the case.

"This may sound odd, but the people around Boulder that I know probably don't have the same kind of concern as everybody in the country seems to have" about JonBenet, said Bill Burns, a high school English teacher.

The murder case is "certainly not a preoccupation" with the town's residents. "Nobody here talks about it that I know," another resident said.

Patsy and John Ramsey

But Patricia Walsh, who has organized a Christmas night vigil in honor of the former child beauty queen, says JonBenet's death is about more than an unsolved crime.

"They're forgetting that it's about a horribly beaten and strangled and brutalized, helpless little girl," Walsh said.

"You to into any of the schools and listen to teachers talk, or in offices. They're very concerned."

Even so, some people ask her why they should care about the murder.

"I say, 'Well, why remember Ann Frank?' All children's suffering is the same."

JonBenet's suffering

The morning after Christmas, JonBenet's mother called the 911 police emergency line to report that her daughter had been kidnapped. The police arrived seven minutes later.

The Ramseys had in their possession a three-page ransom note demanding $118,000 -- the same amount as a work bonus John Ramsey had received -- for JonBenet's return. The note promised a call between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., but the call never came.

By age 6, JonBenet had done professional modeling

Instead of scouring the house themselves, a police detective told Ramsey to keep an eye out for anything unusual, a move police now admit was a mistake. About 1 p.m. that day, Ramsey found his daughter's body in the basement, and carried it upstairs.

JonBenet's body was found under a blanket, a police report says. Her wrists were tied above her head, a piece of tape had been placed on her mouth, and a nylon cord was around her neck. Police later said the cord was tied to a broken paintbrush.

The autopsy report said JonBenet may have been sexually abused. A blow to her head left a fracture 8 1/2 inches long, it said. The stated cause of death: strangulation. By New Year's, JonBenet had been buried in Marietta, Georgia, where she was born.

'Umbrella of suspicion'

Police removed hundreds of items from the family's Boulder home, and searched the Ramseys' summer home in Michigan. Their investigation has spread to about a dozen states.

At least once, police traveled to Atlanta to check out the alibi of John Ramsey's oldest son, who says he was not in Boulder at the time of JonBenet's death.

The Ramseys moved from their Boulder home

Both parents were asked to submit handwriting samples, which could be compared to the handwriting on the ransom note. Patsy Ramsey was asked to submit samples five times. Police later ruled out John Ramsey as the writer of the note.

"(The Ramseys) do remain under an umbrella of suspicion," said lead detective Mark Beckner three weeks ago. "But we're not ready to name any suspects."

Beckner was assigned to the case in October, after months of criticism for the department's handling of the investigation.

Some critics say the police have enough evidence to charge someone, and they say a grand jury should be convened, which could lead to an indictment.

New York lawyer Darnay Hoffman has filed a lawsuit aimed at pressuring Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter to file charges. Hoffman claims an independent handwriting analysis proves Patsy Ramsey wrote the ransom note. No hearing has been scheduled on the complaint.

Two theories

Police say after 12 months on the killer's trail, they have two possibilities.

One, that someone entered the house Christmas night or early on December 26 through unknown means, silently killed the little girl, hid her body and wrote the note.

The other theory is that the crime was committed by someone who was in the house.

Meanwhile, the Ramseys' former neighbors say they miss JonBenet.

"She was beautiful," recalled one neighbor who refused to give her name. "Not just physically. She was beautiful in other ways."

Correspondent Greg LaMotte and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related stories:

• Suspicion but no solution a year after JonBenet's murder - December 22, 1997
• Was a stun gun used in JonBenet's murder? - December 20, 1997
• Police: Ramseys remain under 'umbrella of suspicion' - December 5, 1997
• Report: Boulder DA looks at grand jury in Ramsey case - November 30, 1997

Related sites:

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

• Inside Denver - Ramsey Story Archive
• Rocky Mountain News - JonBenet Ramsey Story Archive
• Ramsey Family Statements - site established as a tool for the media to obtain comments released by the Ramsey family and their attorneys
• Boulder Planet - The Ramsey Case: Index
• JonBenet Ramsey Case Chronology - compiled by Longmont FYI and the Longmont Daily Times-Call

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

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