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JonBenét Patricia Ramsey (August 6, 1990 - December 25 or 26, 1996) was an American beauty pageant queen who was murdered in her family's Boulder, Colorado home at the age of six. The crime remains unsolved.
JonBenét was born at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. The unique name is an amalgam of her father's first and middle names, John Bennett. The family moved to Colorado when she was one year old.
JonBenét's body was found on December 26, 1996 in the basement of her four story home. A garrote was used to strangle her; her skull had suffered severe blunt trauma; and she had possibly been sexually assaulted. The "official" cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma.
The room where JonBenét's body was found has since been rendered inaccessible by means of a wall which seals it off from the rest of the basement.
JonBenét's mother, Patsy Ramsey, discovered a lengthy (two-and-a-half page) ransom note early that morning. The note, in which the kidnappers claimed to represent a "small foreign faction", contained many spelling errors and demanded an odd ransom of $118,000. It also threatened that JonBenét would be "beheaded" if her father, John Ramsey, or her mother spoke to the police about the situation, or deviated in any way from its instructions. It was signed, "Victory! S.B.T.C.". Within a few hours of Patsy discovering the note, John found JonBenét's body in the basement despite the fact that an earlier police search had failed to find her.
It remains unclear what the exact circumstances of the murder were. Critics of the parents claim that the evidence, and the history of child murders, implicates one, or both, of them. Other investigators and pundits interpret the evidence to point to an intruder as the likely perpetrator. The evidence in the case has proven insufficient to bring any suspect to trial, but in April of 2003 a federal judge ruled that there was abundant evidence to support assertions that an intruder killed JonBenét, not John or Patsy. Critics of the Boulder, Colorado police investigation claim that the evidence was mishandled and contaminated by flawed procedures.
The Ramseys moved to a suburb in Atlanta in August of 1997. In order to cover legal fees and expenses, they put the house up for sale in July of 2000. The family currently resides in what was once their summer home, located in Charlevoix, Michigan. In 2004 John Ramsey was recruited by the Michigan Republican Party to run for a seat in their state legislature. Many were unnerved by his entrance into politics and he lost the Republican primary.
JonBenét's grave lies in Saint James Episcopal Cemetery in Marietta, Georgia, next to the grave of Elizabeth Ramsey (d. 1992), a child from John's first marriage who died in an automobile accident. Also buried nearby is JonBenét's grandmother. A total of 12 Ramsey headstones lie in the cemetery.
JonBenét's parents have undergone a great deal of criticism due to their daughter's career as a child model and perennial beauty pageant contestant. However, Patsy and others who knew JonBenét have stated several times that she was never a "pageant child", arguing that pageants were only a small part of her life.
JonBenét held a number of titles, including (in no specific order): Little Miss Charlevoix Michigan, Colorado State All-Star Kids Cover Girl, America's Royal Miss, National Tiny Miss Beauty, Little Miss Merry Christmas, and Little Miss Colorado.
In December 2003, forensic investigators extracted enough material from a mixed blood sample found on the deceased's underwear to establish the killer's DNA profile. It appears that he was male and genetically unrelated to the family. The DNA was submitted to the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a database containing over 1.6 million DNA profiles, mainly from convicted felons. To this day, the sample has yet to find a match in the database, though it continues to be checked for partial matches on a weekly basis.
In fictional portrayals of her life, JonBenét has been played by Dyanne Iandoli, Mackenzie Rosman, and Julia Granstrom.
Several books about the case, including one written by John and Patsy Ramsey, have been published since the infamous murder took place.
See also
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