25 Years After JonBenét Ramsey's Murder, Police Still Hope New DNA Technology Will Crack Case

JonBenét Ramsey.Photo: Splash News Online

Investigators still searching for the killer ofJonBenét Ramsey25 years afterher murdersay they have not ruled out DNA evidence as the clue to solving the case, a long-running mystery that so far has included analysis of nearly 1,000 DNA samples.

“Thanks to the huge advances in DNA technology, multiple suspects have been run through the system to check for matches,” police in Boulder, Colo., say ina statementmarking the anniversary.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has updated more than 750 reference samples in the case using current DNA technology. “That DNA is checked regularly for any new matches,” police say.

“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,” says the statement.

It’s thesame thing police said in 2016, on the 20th anniversary, when they announced their faith in advanced DNA technology as their best hope to crack the case.

Still, no suspect who would warrant a criminal murder charge has been identified.

“This homicide is a tragic, unsolved case,” Shannon Carbone, a spokesman for current Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty, tells PEOPLE. “Unsolved homicides are a priority for our office. The Boulder police department is continuing to actively work the case, review all leads, and keep our office informed of any progress.”

It was Dec. 26, 1996, when a 911 call reporting a missing and possibly kidnapped 6-year-old girl launched the investigation that continues to fascinate and perplex.

Later that morning JonBenét’s body, beaten and strangled with a garrote around her neck and duct tape covering her mouth, was found in the basement of the family’s Tudor brick home.

In 2020, then District Attorney Stan Garnett cited the infamously “compromised” crime scene to tell PEOPLE, “The state of the evidence is not one where you could really say anything definitively.”

To date, the police department’s Major Crimes Unit has “received, reviewed or investigated more than 21,016 tips, letters and emails and detectives have traveled to 19 states to interview or speak with more than 1,000 individuals in connection to this crime,” according to police.

That included John and Patsy Ramsey, who long were treated as suspects.

In 1998, a grand jury voted to indict the parents for child abuse resulting in death and accessory to a crime. But the district attorney at the time said there was not enough evidence to bring charges against the couple.

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“Because this case is still an active and ongoing case, we are unable to answer specific questions,” a police spokesman, Dionne Waugh, tells PEOPLE.

Patsydied in 2006after a years-long battle with ovarian cancer.

Burke, now 34,ended his long public silenceabout the case in 2016 in a three-part broadcast interview with Dr. Phil McGraw, stating he had not killed his sister and that his parents had not covered for him. “I know that’s not what happened. … Look at the evidence. Or lack thereof,” he said.

Earlier this year, John, 77, now remarried and living in Michigan, said upon the release of the documentaryJonBenét Ramsey: What Really Happened?, that he hoped the film would “keep the case alive,” reportsUSA Today. “We’re hoping somebody will come forward with some information that will be helpful.”

He shared his own version of events in a 2000 book written with Patsy,The Death of Innocence: The Untold Story of JonBenét’s Murder and How Its Exploitation Compromised the Pursuit of Truth. In 2012 he wrote a follow-up,The Other Side of Suffering: The Father of JonBenét Ramsey Tells the Story of His Journey from Grief to Grace, chronicling his loss of JonBenét, Patsy, and a daughter, Beth, from an earlier marriage who died in a 1992 car accident.

“The death of JonBenét took away my desire to live for a while; the actions of the police took away my ability to live normally and that, to some extent, continued for a long time in the way we were treated and assaulted,” he toldUSA Today.

“The police drew a conclusion immediately that day, the next day and then tried to find the evidence to prove it. And the evidence they were finding was, unfortunately for them, contradictory to their conclusion,” he said. “But they never admitted that and struggled with that for years and spent millions of taxpayers' dollars trying to prove otherwise.”

Police ask anyone with information to call a tip line at 303-441-1974, emailBouldersMostWanted@bouldercolorado.govor contact Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS(8477) orwww.nococrimestoppers.com.

source: people.com