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JonBenet Ramsey was found murdered in her parents’ Boulder, Colorado home on December 26, 1996. Her oldest brother, John Andrew Ramsey, has since recalled learning about his sister’s death.
John Andrew Ramsey was one of John Bennett Ramsey’s children from a previous marriage. He was 23 years old at the time of his sister’s death and had reportedly arrived at his father’s home later that day when he learned what had happened.
He recalled the day of the murder when he was a guest on The Killing of JonBenet: The Final Suspects podcast. He had spent Christmas with his sister Melinda and his mother in Atlanta and was flying to meet his father the next day.
He Found Out About His Sister’s Reported Kidnapping at the Airport
GettyThe grave of JonBenet Ramsey is shown August 16, 2006 in Marietta, Georgia.
John Andrew Ramsey said on the podcast that someone told him he needed to call home when he got off the airplane in Minneapolis, and he said that when he called his father told him JonBenet had been kidnapped.
He then flew to Boulder to get to his father’s house where he learned that his dad had recently found his sister dead in the basement.
“[We] arrived right as [or] just after they had found the body,” John Andrew says in episode 3 of the podcast. “They were walking out of the house. So it was quite a scene. … My dad said [something] to the effect that JonBenét is in heaven or has been killed.”
John Andrew Ramsey was 23 years old at the time.
John Andrew Ramsey Was Exonerated Early On in the Investigation
Here, John Ramsey, left, and his wife Patsy, 2nd to the left, talk to the media outside their house February 20, 2001 in Atlanta, GA. John Ramsey had earlier returned home and surprised an intruder. Ramsey fought with the man, but was subdued and locked inside a bathroom in his house. The Ramseys are the parents of JonBenet Ramsey, the 6-year-old beauty queen who was killed in the Ramseys” Boulder, Colorado home on December 26, 1996. (Photo by Erik S. Lesser/Newsmakers)
John Andrew Ramsey was a college student at the time of his sister’s murder.
According to police, he was with friends on the night before the murder and boarded a flight to Minneapolis at 8:36 a.m. local time, which was 44 minutes after Patsy Ramsey called 911 to report JonBenet missing.
John Andrew Ramsey was officially cleared by law enforcement based on that evidence in 1997.
He Believes The Killer Will Be Found
GettyJohn Ramsey (L) hugs his son Burke at the grave of JonBenet Ramsey after graveside service for his wife Patsy Ramsey.
On the podcast, John Andrew Ramsey, who is now 44 years old, said he believes that they can still crack the case.
“We have the killer’s DNA … so that’s hugely important and will ultimately solve this crime,” John Andrew said in early 2020. “There are additional items that should be tested given today’s new technology for additional samples. And then … the advent of using genealogy to identify a killer is hugely promising, and that technology will only get better.”
He said that technology has improved, and DNA technology specifically has made “leaps and bounds in improvement” since 1996.
“So in my mind, if it’s not today, it’s tomorrow,” he said. “We’re going to crack this. I’m absolutely confident in that.”
When John Andrew met up with Independent Forensic Services founder Richard Eikelenboom, he asked if they could retest DNA. Eikelenboom said he believed it would be worth it to redo all the DNA in the case.
He said that, though it could damage it by retesting it, the DNA should still be in good condition even over 20 years later.
“The state of Colorado is very dry, which is extremely good for your DNA,” he says. “Even if they didn’t store it in very good conditions — which I cannot imagine, but let’s assume they didn’t — the normal air conditions are very dry there, which means that’s good for your DNA.”
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