JonBenét Ramsey’s tragic death has remained unsolved since the 6-year-old pageant star was found murdered in her family’s basement during the 1996 holiday season. Despite the case being ruled a homicide, authorities still haven’t identified her killer.
Over the years, JonBenét’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, as well as her brother Burke Ramsey, have all been placed under intense scrutiny by both investigators and the public in the search for answers about her tragic death.
To find out where the Ramseys are today, keep reading.
Where Is JonBenet’s Brother Burke Today?
Burke Ramsey, now 37 years old, reportedly attended Purdue University and works as a software engineer. In addition to Burke, JonBenét had another older half-brother, John Andrew Ramsey, who is now 51.
In the years following JonBenét’s tragic death, Burke has spoken publicly about the intense media scrutiny and public attention he faced from adolescence into adulthood. He opened up during a 2016 interview with Dr. Phil, addressing various theories about his involvement. Burke firmly denied any involvement in striking his sister with a weapon. When asked why he was downstairs at the time of her death, he explained that he was simply playing with a toy. Burke was 9 years old at the time.
“Yeah, I had some toy that I wanted to put together. I remember being downstairs after everyone was in bed, wanting to get this thing out,” he explained, adding that he didn’t remember anything else. “I just remember being downstairs with this toy.”
28 years later, a source close to the Ramsey family revealed to Us Weekly ahead of the release of Netflix’s Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey on November 24, that Burke rarely discusses the case.
“Burke doesn’t talk about it. Ever,” the source said. “When he was younger, even her name would make him upset, because it was really painful and he didn’t know what to do with it. And then when he was in high school, he knew all the whispers.”
“Burke had a very painful and very lonely upbringing,” the source continued. “The family tried very hard to shield him, but you can’t shield a kid from the fact that his sister was murdered and everyone thinks that his family did it. Or that he did it.”
Where Are JonBenet’s Parents?
Patsy passed away from ovarian cancer in 2006, after battling the disease for several years. She had been in remission for nearly a decade after her initial diagnosis in 1993, but the cancer returned in 2002. Patsy, who was also a former pageant star, is buried next to her daughter.
As for John, he has largely stayed out of the public eye following the intense media scrutiny and public criticism surrounding the case. In 2004, he briefly entered politics, running for a seat in Michigan’s House of Representatives.
After Patsy’s death, John reportedly dated Natalee Holloway‘s mother, Beth Holloway, though he insisted that they were just friends. In 2011, John remarried, tying the knot with Jan Rousseaux, and relocated to Michigan.
Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?
It is still unclear who killed the young pageant queen. On December 26, 1996, Patsy noticed that JonBenét was missing from the family home in Boulder, Colorado, and discovered a ransom note demanding $118,000.
The letter read, “At this time, we have your daughter in our possession. She is safe and unharmed, and if you want her to see 1997, you must follow our instructions to the letter. … Don’t underestimate us John. Use that good southern common sense of yours. It is up to you now, John! Victory! S.B.T.C.”
The only ones that were known to be in the house that evening were the Ramseys. Even though the letter warned the Ramseys not to call the police, Patsy did anyway and also notified friends and family. Authorities found no sign of forced entry.
John was the one who discovered his daughter’s body in the basement. After picking her up and carrying her upstairs, the crime scene was contaminated. The cause of death for JonBenét was determined to be strangulation and a skull fracture.
After conducting an autopsy, officials found pineapple in JonBenét’s system. Crime scene photographs revealed a bowl of pineapple was on the kitchen table from that night, but Patsy and John claimed they didn’t feed their daughter the fruit. Burke’s fingerprints were found on the bowl.
Police found an unidentified male’s DNA on JonBenét’s underwear.
In 2006, Alexis Val Reich falsely claimed he killed JonBenét, even though officials could not find anything that linked him to the crime scene.
After a year of secret testimony, a grand jury voted to indict Patsy and John on charges of child abuse resulting in death and being accessories to a crime. The grand jury ruled at the time that the pageant princess’ parents “unlawfully, knowingly, recklessly and feloniously [permitted] a child to be unreasonably placed in a situation which posed a threat of injury to the child’s life or health.” The Boulder County prosecutor declined to pursue criminal charges against the couple and Burke, however, saying the evidence wasn’t compelling enough to implicate them.
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