Investigators Looking at ‘New Persons of Interest’ in JonBenét Ramsey Murder Case (Exclusive)

Police in Boulder, Colo., are looking into new possible persons of interest in the JonBenét Ramsey murder case 27 years later — but are far from making an arrest.

"There are several people on the radar," a police source tells the Messenger. "New persons of interest. And we are seeing if any of them are the key to solving this case. Time will tell if we get the answers we need. This is a marathon, not a sprint."

Although the Christmas Day 1996 murder of the 6-year-old pageant queen has never been solved, Boulder police say they have never stopped investigating the case.

In 2021, the department said it had analyzed nearly 1,000 DNA samples, and had sent detectives to 19 states to interview or speak with more than 1,000 people in connection with the crime.

Earlier this year, police began using new DNA technology to test at least five pieces of previously unexamined evidence.

It's unclear if the DNA testing has led to the new persons of interest in the case.

"Suspects and witnesses can come from a variety of places," says the police source. "It's not just the DNA, it's what happens when you investigate a very difficult case."

Last year, Boulder police issued a statement saying that they were working "in consultation with DNA experts from around the country" to solve the cold case.

"The Boulder Police Department ... wants the community to know that it has never wavered in its pursuit to bring justice to everyone affected by the murder of this little girl," officials said in the statement.

The case has stumped investigators since December 26, 1996, when JonBenét's family reported her missing. Seven hours later, her father, John Ramsey, found his daughter's body in the basement of their sprawling Boulder home.

JonBenét had been strangled. A garrote was found around her neck. She also had a broken skull from the blow to the back of the head. An autopsy stated that her official cause of death was "asphyxia by strangulation."

A handwritten ransom note was also found at the scene.

The investigation focused on John and Patsy and their son, Burke Ramsey, who was 9 years old at the time.

Authorities believed that Patsy had written the note, and suspected that someone in the family was responsible for the little girl's death.

But the investigators were wrong. In 2008, when the District Attorney sent the Ramsey a letter of apology and claimed that they had been "completely cleared" by DNA testing.

The apology came too late for Patsy Ramsey, who died from ovarian cancer in 2006 at the age of 49.

Since 1996, several men have come forward, saying that they had information or responsibility in her death. John Mark Karr was arrested after he said that he was with the little girl when she died. He was later released.

Authorities have also looked at a man named Gary Oliva, a convicted pedophile who has long insisted that he had killed the little girl. He has never faced charges related to her death, but continues to write letters to friends, claiming responsibility for the murder.

"Of course the entire department is aware of these men," says the police source. "And sure, if anything comes up that leads back to them, then that's the avenue that we'll take. But now, there are new people to look at, to hopefully figure out who killed JonBenét."