‘Failure’: Slain beauty queen’s dad slams cops

The father of JonBenét Ramsey has spoken out nearly three decades after the beauty queen’s murder on Boxing Day.

The father of JonBenét Ramsey has spoken out nearly three decades after the beauty queen’s murder.

JonBenét was six years old when she was reported missing by her mother, Patsy, from the family’s home in Boulder, Colorado on the morning of December 26, 1996,

She was found hours later, strangled and with a blow to the head, in the basement of the family’s home, New York Post reported.

Now, the little girl’s father, John, told Today there has been “horrible failures” by the Boulder Police Department.

John and Patsy Ramsey, the parents of JonBenet Ramsey. Picture: Helen H. Richardson/ The Denver Post

“But I believe it can be solved if police accept help from outside their system. That’s been their flaw,” he said.

“For years, in my judgment, the police department had very poor leadership; they wanted us to stay out of their way.

“The fellow who investigated our case was an auto theft investigator before our case. I never criticised them for not having experience — I criticised them for refusing help from people who did. And it was offered.”

Police initially focused on JonBenét’s family: father John; mother Patsy; and brother Burke. But 15 days after the murder, a DNA report seemingly excluded them as suspects. They were formally exonerated in 2008 by the then-district attorney.

In the 28 years that have passed, no one has ever been held accountable for killing JonBenét.

Last December, the city of Boulder issued a press release that claimed that the homicide is being investigated by a multi-agency task force — and that they hoped that new technologies will lead to a resolution.

“Recently, the Boulder Police Department (BPD) convened a panel of outside experts (Colorado Cold Case Review Team) to review the JonBenét Ramsey homicide investigation,” the statement read.

John Ramsey has laid into the police department. Picture: Today

“The purpose of the review was to generate additional investigative recommendations and determine if updated technologies and/or forensic testing might produce new intelligence or leads to solve the case.”

The team was comprised of the FBI, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the Boulder Police Department, the Boulder District Attorney’s Office, the Colorado Department of Public Safety and Colorado’s Bureau of Investigation.

But after the promising press release, the case remains frustratingly unsolved — and the Ramsey family says that Boulder cops need to do more.

“They need to accept the help that’s offered to them,” Mr Ramsey lamented.

“There’s a new police chief brought in from the outside. I hope he accepts help, so this can be solved.”

This story originally appeared on the New York Post and reproduced with permission