Officers on the scene made serious, and irreversible, mistakes that may have resulted in the contamination or destruction of crucial evidence. Many of the facts about the crime that have been widely reported-and presumed true by the public-turned out to be misleading or false. Interviews with law-enforcement officials, family friends and eyewitnesses-and close scrutiny of internal police reports-paint a picture of an investigation that began badly and was slow to recover. Why has this case been so hard to crack? A Newsweek reconstruction of the crucial hours and days after the police first arrived at the Ramsey home sheds light on why the police and prosecutors are at a loss to solve it. The authorities say they have also analyzed "fiber evidence" that may raise new questions about JonBenét's parents. One clue: a still-unidentified partial bootprint found in the basement room. Newsweek has learned both police and prosecutors are pursuing more than one suspect outside the family. Prosecutors have publicly admitted they still don't have enough evidence to charge anyone in the case-including the Ramseys-though JonBenét's parents remain under what police have called the "umbrella of suspicion." The police haven't given up the chase. The facts of the case remain confusing and contradictory. Why didn't French open the door? And why did the police allow John Ramsey to wander through the house in the first place? As the investigation of the still-unsolved murder drags through its second year, questions like these continue to dog police investigators. In doing so, he contaminated the crime scene and may have disturbed critical forensic evidence the police could have used to help identify the killer. It wasn't until later that day that John Ramsey would open the door to the room and carry the body, which was under a white blanket, upstairs. In the darkened room on the other side lay the bludgeoned and strangled body of 6-yearold JonBenét Ramsey. According to police reports obtained by Newsweek, he paused for a moment in front of the door-but walked away.Īs the world now knows, he should have opened the door. In the basement, he came to a door secured with a wooden latch. French read the ransom note and later conducted a quick search of the house. and still dark when he arrived at the Tudor home of John and Patsy Ramsey. In the early morning of the day after Christmas 1996, Boulder, Colorado, police officer Rick French responded to a frantic 911 call from a woman claiming her daughter had been kidnapped. It was the first mistake in a day of many. This artice is featured in Newsweek's Special Edition, JonBenet: 20 Years Later, by Issue Editor James Ellis. Meanwhile, law enforcement instructs the family not to leave town.The following is excerpted from the Jedition of Newsweek, by Andrew Murr, Daniel Glick and Sherry Keene-Osborn. John Ramsey calls his pilot and is allegedly heard asking him to prepare a plane to Atlanta. They finally secure the home, preventing further arrivals.ġ:40 p.m. Boulder policemen Ron Walker and Larry Mason arrive and search the basement and wine cellar for further clues into JonBenét’s death. Officials further tamper with evidence by moving her body upstairs to the living room.ġ:30 p.m.
![is the jonbenet ramsey house up for sale is the jonbenet ramsey house up for sale](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/09/08/16/38099A2000000578-3779889-The_Milners_bought_the_home_in_2004_for_1million_In_an_interview-a-9_1473347493439.jpg)
Her mouth and neck are bound with duct tape, which the investigators remove. She’s suffered a skull fracture and strangulation by a garrote. John and Fleet discover JonBenét’s body in a spare room in the basement. He and his friend, Fleet White, join in.ġ:05 p.m. Detective Arndt tells a resurfaced John Ramsey that police will be conducting a search of the house. John Ramsey goes missing for at least an hour, leaving the house to supposedly “pick up the mail.” It’s later determined this couldn’t be true, given the family’s mail was delivered through a slot in the front door.ġ:00 p.m.