26 years later, the JonBenet Ramsey murder case remains unsolved. This article is a continuing series. If you missed the first one, here is a recap: JonBenet Ramsey, a six year old pageant queen, was found dead in her home located in Boulder, Colorado. She was murdered on December 26,1996. Following the murder, the media quickly televised the entire investigation. The world watched interviews, trials, and live footage taken by the media. As a result, the media is one of the many reasons that the case was never solved. Furthermore, the family of JonBenet quickly became the prime suspect in her murder. Conspiracy theories rapidly took over the case. For more information on the background, go back to the first article! This article will cover the evidence police and investigators uncovered which potentially points to JonBenet’s killer. 

The Ransom Note: 

Patsy Ramsey, the mother of JonBenet claims that when she came downstairs early in the morning she found this three page ransom note on the stairs. This piece of evidence is quite unusual. Here’s why: the note is three pages long, this is one of the longest ransom notes in history. Investigators concluded that the person writing this note was trying to “sell” the supposed kidnapping. Investigators also found that the language used in the note seemed to reflect a woman with characteristics of a mother. Specifically, the first line of the note says “listen carefully”. This is a phrase a mother might use to her child. Moreover, there were lines in the note that came from movies. Specifically, “Ransom”, “Dirty Harry”, and “Speed”. 

The 911 Call: 

Patsy Ramsey, mother of JonBenet Ramsey, called the police to report her daughter was missing at 5:52am. Patsy abruptly hung up the phone but was unaware the call was still going. In the CBS documentary which was released in 2016, professionals in auditory deciphered the unexplainable noise in the background. They came to a conclusion that all 3 members of the family (besides JonBenet) were present when the phone call was made. In Ramsey’s initial statement to the police, they said Burke was asleep the entire time. But in the phone call you can hear a little boy in the background saying “what did you find?”. Also, when Patsy hung up the phone her tone and attitude changed. It seemed as if the call was rehearsed. 

The body: 

JonBenet’s body was found in the basement around 1pm. The initial autopsy ruled that the cause of death was strangulation. Her body supported this claim at first. There was a strangulation device called a garrote that was tied around the six year old’s throat. There also were ropes securing her hands and duct tape over her mouth. However, another autopsy was performed and the actual cause of death was a fractured skull. The blow to her head by a heavy object was what killed her. So why was she found with a makeshift garrote around her neck? Someone wanted to make this look like something it wasn’t. After further investigation, it was found that strangulation didn’t kill her. In fact, the rope around her neck wasn’t tight enough to cut off her air supply. Additionally, the ropes around her hands could have easily been slipped off. JonBenet’s body was staged to cover up the truth.

This is the tip of the iceberg of the evidence involved in the JonBenet Ramsey case. In the next article we will discuss the murder suspects. In the meantime, who do you think did it?