JonBenét Ramsey breakthrough on 28th anniversary of her death as father John says crime may finally be solved
The family of murdered JonBenét Ramsey have revealed they believe an upcoming meeting with police could hold the key to solving the decades-long cold case.
John Ramsey is due to sit down with new chief of Boulder Police Stephen Redfearn in January and is hopeful the leader will use his powers to recruit the FBI to the case.
The Ramsey family has a fractured history with the police department and say previous administrations have been reluctant to keep working on the case.
Ramsey plans to propose conducting further DNA testing on several items recovered from the crime scene using revolutionary new techniques.
The grieving father spoke out about his hopes on the 28th anniversary of his daughter's brutal murder.
JonBenét was found battered and strangled to death in the basement of her Boulder, Colorado home on December 26, 1996.
Over the years there have been hundreds of tips, leads and possible suspects but nobody has been formally charged.
But Ramsey is more confident than ever that a breakthrough is imminent and plans to sit down with Redfearn and representatives from testing labs to nail down an action plan.
The family of murdered JonBenét Ramsey have revealed they believe an upcoming meeting with police could hold the key to solving the decades-long cold case
John Ramsey is due to sit down with new chief of Boulder Police Stephen Redfearn in January and is hopeful the leader will use his powers to recruit the FBI to the case
'We have been asking and praying for this over the past 28 years,' Ramsey told the US Sun.
'We are encouraged that the police will finally use the FBI's skills and resources to help solve our case.'
Several items which were previously DNA tested returned a match for an unidentified male and definitively ruled out Ramsey, his wife Patsy and their older son Burke as possible suspects after years of speculation.
The DNA was found under JonBenét's fingernails, in her underwear and on several items such as the garrote used to strangle her and a blanket used to conceal her body.
'Suppose they now use cutting-edge DNA labs to develop a DNA profile in the proper format for familial genealogy research,' Ramsey added. 'In that case, we have pretty good odds of finding the killer's identity.'
He told Fox Digital he plans to ask Redfearn to engage 'one or two' such labs to 'see what they can come up with'.
He added that getting a DNA profile in a new format would enable it to be compared to geneaology work which has a much larger pool of samples than the FBI's criminal database.
JonBenét was found battered and strangled to death at her Boulder, Colorado home on December 26, 1996. Pictured: The little girl with her mom Patsy, dad John and brother Burke
This ransom note was found by JonBenét's mom, Patsy, shortly before her daughter was discovered dead in the basement
The technique has already proved successful in identifying Joseph James DeAngelo, the 'Golden State Killer' in 2018 and Ramsey is confident similar results can be achieved for his daughter.
It has been 28 years since Ramsey found JonBenét's lifeless body hidden under a blanket in the basement of the family home.
She had been reported missing just hours earlier after he stricken mom found a ransom note on the stairs demanding $118,000 for her daughter's safe return.
Patsy called 911 to report the incident and police responded quickly but the child's body wasn't found until hours later during a search led by Ramsey himself.
Suspicion quickly focused on the family, which soon established a strained relationship with Boulder Police Department.
A Netflix documentary released last month, Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey, addresses how misinformation about the case was spread widely by law enforcement and the media.
JonBenet's body was found in the basement of the family home in Boulder, Colorado
Ramsey hopes that Redfearn will use his powers as the new chief to brin
John Ramsey would like the garotte used to kill his daughter retested for DNA evidence
In the wake of the explosive Netflix documentary about the decades-old case, Ramsey received a letter from a woman claiming her ex-husband is his daughter's killer.
John Ramsey said he immediately followed up on the tip, but is yet to hear back from the mystery sender, he told the Daily Mail.
