Monday, 25 Nov 2024

JonBenet Ramsey case reopened 25 years after beauty queen, 6, was murdered

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Detectives attempting to crack the infamous murder of beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey are now exploring genetic DNA testing as they continue to hunt for the killer in the infamous 25-year-old case.

The six-year-old was found dead in the basement of her family home on December 26, 1996.

She had been bludgeoned and strangled several hours after her mum called 911 to say her daughter was missing and a ransom note had been left behind.

The death was determined a homicide, but nobody in the case was ever charged, MailOnline reports.

As the anniversary of JonBenet's death looms, police announced on Monday that they are looking into "genetic DNA testing processes to see if they can be applied to this case moving forward".

"As the Department continues to use new technology to enhance the investigation, it is actively reviewing genetic DNA testing processes to see if those can be applied to this case moving forward," it said.

While it has not been specified by police what genetic DNA processes are, they could include databases generated from-at-home DNA tests, KDVR.com reported.

Cold case detectives have increasingly turned to genealogy DNA databases to crack crimes.

In 2018, they used it to uncover the identity of the Golden State Killer who terrorised neighbourhoods in the 1970s and 80s.

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Former cop Joseph James DeAngelo Jr, 72, was arrested after DNA testing found him linked to some of the 12 murders and 51 rapes carried out during that time.

Investigators linked almost 40-year-old DNA from crime scenes to a distant relative, and eventually to a discarded tissue they sneaked from DeAngelo's rubbish bin in suburban Sacramento.

He was sentenced in August to consecutive life sentences.

Alexis Valoran Reich was arrested in Thailand in August 2006 when she falsely confessed to murdering JonBenet.

She had previously been known as John Mark Kerr prior to coming out as a transgender woman.

She claimed that she had drugged, sexually assaulted, and accidentally killed her but authorities could not find any evidence linking her to the crime scene.

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Boulder police said they have analysed almost 1,500 pieces of evidence related to the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, including 1,000 DNA samples.

John and Patsy, JonBenet's parents, remained primary suspects in their daughter's death for over a decade, and it was not until 2008 that police cleared them of any wrongdoing.

They have also reviewed 21,016 tips, letters and emails and have interviewed 1,000 people across 19 states.

Investigators are still hoping to match unidentified DNA on JonBenet's underpants and the waistband of her longjohns.

They have not been able to find a match for any person of interest in the case.

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