Nearly 30 years have passed since JonBen T. Ramsey was murdered in the basement of her family’s Colorado home.

On the morning of December 26, 1996, Patsy Ramsey found a ransom note requesting $118,000 to return her 6-year-old daughter, JonBen.

John Bennett Ramsey found his daughter dead in their basement with a garrote (a portable ligature) around her neck, hours after he had reported her missing to the police and had detectives search the premises.

She had been sexually molested, according to the autopsy report, and was strangled and struck in the head before dying.

Although no one has ever been charged in JonBen’s death, her parents endured years of police suspicion and intense media attention, partly because of the toddler’s little-known status as a beauty pageant competitor.

Who killed JonBen Ramsey in Netflix’s cold case? examines whether the focus on Patsy and John, who passed away in 2006, distracted from the case’s resolution.

Beginning on November 25, the three-part documentary series explores the alleged errors committed by the police when the toddler was initially reported missing. Along with DNA evidence that John says has not yet been tested, it also lists other possible suspects who have been questioned by authorities.

In November, he told PEOPLE, “We are pleading with the police to step in.” Some state-of-the-art DNA labs are willing to assist and think they can advance the case.

What has become to JonBen T. Ramsey? Everything you need to know about the toddler’s unsolved murder and the reasons why police have had trouble finding her perpetrator is provided here.

What happened to JonBen t Ramsey?

On December 26, 1996, at 5:52 a.m., Patsy called the Boulder Police Department to report her daughter missing. On the stairs leading to their kitchen, she found a ransom note from a suspected kidnapper threatening to kill JonBen unless he paid $118,000 by 10 a.m. The amount needed was almost the same as the bonus John had previously gotten.

Immediately, two officers were dispatched to the scene. When they first searched the Ramsey home, they were unable to locate the child and instead closed JonBen’s room. Police allegedly let Patsy and John to invite friends over, which Cold Case claims may have polluted the crime scene.

When no one contacted at 10 a.m. to collect the ransom, retired detective Linda Arndt directed John to investigate the premises for anything unusual.

Who found JonBen t Ramsey s body?

In Cold Case, John stated that when he and a friend checked the basement, they discovered an open and broken window with a suitcase underneath it. The object shouldn’t have been there, he claimed.

Soon after, John discovered JonBen t s body in the room where the children stored their train sets. She was tied up and had duct tape over her lips. John quickly removed the tape and carried her upstairs, where officials confirmed that she had died.

Allowing the missing child s father to investigate the house on his own, which may have resulted in him tampering with potential evidence after he discovered her death, is another claimed blunder by the Boulder Police Department, according to Cold Case.

Who were the suspects in JonBen t Ramsey s murder?

The discovery of a ransom letter appeared to support the assumption that JonBen t was murdered by an intruder. Over the years, various names have been proposed.

Michael Helgoth, who had boots that appeared to match a print discovered at the site, was one possible intruder. Police first investigated Helgoth, but after he committed suicide in 1997, detectives turned their attention elsewhere.

Ollie Gray, a private investigator hired by John and Patsy, suspected Helgoth s family may have a taped confession to the crime.

In 2006, John Mark Karr, also known as Alexis Reich, confessed to the murder, claiming that he was with JonBen t when she died and that her death was an accident. However, the assertion was disputed when Karr s relatives stated that they were with him around Christmas 1996. His DNA did not match that found on JonBen t s clothing.

Another prospective intruder was Bill McReynolds, who had previously worked as Santa Claus and had lately visited the Ramsey residence. The man s daughter had also been kidnapped decades previously, but he was never officially considered a suspect.

Cold Case also features Gary Howard Oliva, a former suspect who was identified as a person of interest on 48 Hours Investigates. He never admitted to the killing, although he did serve eight years in prison for child pornography and was apprehended in 2000 with a photo of JonBen t.

John told PEOPLE in November 2024 that he believes authorities should investigate a masked burglar who raped a 12-year-old girl in Boulder nine months after JonBen t s death.

The girl s mother chased the assailant away, and he was never caught but John feels he may easily have been the same person who murdered his daughter. The girl went to the same dance studio as JonBen t.

The police blew it off as, No, it s not the same,’ John replied. I believe the manner of operation was identical. I suspect the killer was in the house when we arrived home and waited until we went to bed.

The DNA evidence recovered on JonBen t s garments has yet to match anyone the police have questioned.

Were JonBen t Ramsey s parents suspects in her murder?

Early in the investigation, police regarded John and Patsy as being under an umbrella of suspicion . Patsy was accused of murdering her daughter over a bedwetting incident in a 2000 book authored by former detective Steve Thomas, and Arndt said on Good Morning America in 1999 that she had a nonverbal exchange with John after he discovered JonBen t that led her to assume he was the murderer.

Following their daughter s murder, the former couple engaged lawyers, subsequently claiming they were unfairly pursued by the police and media.

In 1999, a grand jury determined that John and Patsy had unlawfully, knowingly, recklessly, and feloniously permit[ted] a child to be unreasonably placed in a situation which posed a threat of injury to the child s life or health, but the prosecutor declined to pursue a case against JonBen t s parents due to a lack of evidence.

In 2008, two years after Patsy died of ovarian cancer, Mary Lacy, the district attorney at the time, wrote to John to inform him that he, Patsy, and Burke had all been cleared of involvement by DNA. However, District Attorney Stan Garnett later told PEOPLE that I didn t feel the exoneration was warranted based on the state of the evidence and the complexity of the case.

Burke, who was nine years old at the time of JonBen t s murder, was never considered a suspect by Boulder police. However, a 2016 CBS docuseries proposed the possibility that he smacked his sister in the head with a flashlight. Burke sued CBS for $750 million to redress the permanent damage to his reputation resulting from defendants false accusations that he killed his sister.

NPR reported in 2019 that the slander lawsuit had been settled.

Why is JonBen t Ramsey s murder still unsolved?

JonBen t s murder has yet to be solved, but her father believes it could be.

John told PEOPLE that six or seven forensic items, including the garrote used to strangle the toddler, had still to be DNA-tested. He wants the Boulder Police Department to transfer the material to labs that use genetic genealogy and other modern DNA techniques, which he believes will yield results.

If it stays in the hands of the Boulder Police, it will not be solved, period, John told me. If they accept all of the help that is available and offered, the problem will be resolved. Yes, I believe it will be resolved.

He continued, We re not asking them to do anything unusual. Simply do your job. Test the DNA.

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