Who Was JonBenet Ramsey's Mom Patsy?

Christmas is often a time for joy, celebrations, and family gatherings. However, for John and Patsy Ramsey, December 1996 turned into a season of inconceivable tragedy and heartbreak. Their 6-year-old daughter, JonBenét Ramsey, was kidnapped from the family's home in Boulder, Colorado. The parents didn't waste any time in calling the authorities and telling them that they found a ransom note on the stairs demanding $118,000. The note gave the parents hope they would find their daughter safe. However, things went from bad to worse when JonBenet's father found her lifeless body in the basement of their home, dashing any chance of a happy reunion.

The law enforcement authorities in Boulder, Colorado, initiated the investigation and tried to find the killer. However, in April 1997, the case took a horrifying turn for JonBenét's parents when authorities announced that the couple was under scrutiny for the murder. John and Patsy always denied that they had anything to do with their daughter's abduction and murder. "You remember the Frankenstein movies when the people are out with torches, coming up the hill to find Doctor Frankenstein. That's how we feel, that's who's out there coming at us," John Ramsey told CBS News in April 1999.

Despite the best efforts, police have never been able to catch JonBenét's killer and the case remains an open investigation. The Netflix documentary, "Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?" digs deeper into the homicide case and reveals startling details about the crime. Furthermore, it would shed light on JonBenét's parents, particularly Patsy Ramsey, who was once suspected of killing her daughter. Here's what you need to know about JonBenét's mother.

Patsy Ramsey, the eldest of three sisters, was born and raised in Parkersburg, West Virginia. She participated actively in debates and did volunteer work in high school. After graduating, she attended West Virginia University and studied journalism. In her first year at the university, she went on to participate in a beauty pageant and was crowned Miss West Virginia. As a result, she got an opportunity to compete in the Miss America beauty pageant in 1977. However, she did not win the contest and chose to focus on her studies and complete her education.

After completing her college studies, Patsy relocated to Atlanta and met John Ramsey, a former Navy pilot. It didn't take much time for the duo to form a connection and start dating each other. In 1980, the couple took their relationship to a new level and got married. The couple welcomed their first child, a son named Burke, in 1987, and Patsy gave birth to JonBenét in 1990. Although they enjoyed a happy married life and took joy in building a future together, Patsy's health condition ultimately tested their strength as a family.

John and Patsy Ramsey began their married life with a lot of excitement. John's business thrived and Patsy began working as a secretary in her husband's computer company. By 1991, the duo decided to move to Boulder, Colorado, to make their business a roaring success. However, their world turned upside down when Patsy was diagnosed with cancer in 1993. Patsy was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer just three years before her daughter's death. Despite the dire diagnosis, Patsy sought treatment at the National Cancer Institute.

Patsy wrote about her illness in the book, 'The Death of Innocence: The Untold Story of JonBenet's Murder and How Its Exploitation Compromised the Pursuit of Truth,' and noted that she started spending more time with her children, especially JonBenét. It seemed like Patsy wanted to fulfill her own dream of winning the Miss America title through her daughter, encouraging her to enter beauty pageants at a very young age. "I decided if this was what she liked to do, then I would see if I could make it possible. I always worried that my cancer would return some day, so I was glad to have found an activity that we could have fun with together," Patsy wrote in the book (via Los Angeles Times).

On the other hand, John Ramsey revealed that JonBenet became fascinated with the world of beauty pageants — years before the reality show "Toddlers & Tiaras" would bring more attention to its memorable child pageant stars — after she accompanied her mother to a reunion of former Miss America contestants. "I think she was trying to pack a lot of mother-daughter time in perhaps what's going to be a short life," he said (via 60 Minutes Australia).

As in previous years, the Ramsey family spent Christmas with their loved ones and were hoping to enjoy a great holiday season. But John and Patsy Ramsey didn't know that their lives were about to take a devastating turn. On December 26, 1996, Patsy frantically called 911 and told the dispatcher that her daughter, JonBenet Ramsey, was missing from the family's home in Boulder, Colorado. Additionally, she found a ransom note demanding $118,000. However, the publication reported that the authorities didn't confirm anything about the ransom and the note. Although the police initially considered this case as a kidnapping, they soon identified it as a homicide after JonBenet's father, John, found her body in the basement of their house.

While talking about the moment she saw her daughter for the first time after the alleged abduction, Patsy told Larry King (via CNN), "I heard him (John Ramsey) scream ... I did then see her. My friends were — I was in the TV room and they were — I said what is it? What is it? And they kept, you know, holding me, wait, I don't know what it is. I kept screaming, what is it? And, you know, then in just a couple of minutes, I walked into the living room."

As the investigation moved forward, the police collected DNA samples from John, Patsy, and other members of the Ramsey clan. In April 1997, the entire community was left stunned when the authorities identified Patsy and John as suspects in the case.

Initially, Patsy Ramsey along with her husband, John Ramsey, gave interviews to media outlets and vehemently denied that they were involved in their daughter's killing. As police failed to find any other suspect, the case was transferred to a grand jury in August 1998. After working extensively on the case, it was revealed that the grand jury couldn't find enough evidence to file any charges. However, in 2013, a Colorado court released never-seen-before documents regarding the grand jury investigation. The jury initially voted to indict Patsy and John on the counts of "child abuse resulting in death and accessory to a crime" (via CNN). 

During the investigation, the grand jury claimed that Patsy and John allowed a child to be placed in an unsafe situation "which posed a threat of injury to the child's life or health which resulted in the death of JonBenet Ramsey." On the other hand, the jury alleged that both parents assisted a person so that he or she could not be arrested for the crime, even when they knew that they had "committed and was suspected of the crime of murder in the first degree and child abuse resulting in death."

Even though the grand jury didn't indict JonBenet's parents, a former detective who was a part of the murder investigation claimed that Patsy killed her daughter. The former police official made that claim in the book "JonBenet: Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation," which was released in April 2000. In the book, the detective alleged that Patsy strangulated her daughter after severely injuring her on Christmas night in 1996 (via The New York Times). These claims were never taken seriously and Patsy was never charged in the case.

For years, Patsy and John Ramsey fought together to seek justice for their daughter, JonBenet. Unfortunately, they couldn't achieve this and Patsy lost her battle with cancer while on this journey. Patsy passed away in June 2006 after a recurrence of ovarian cancer. The news of her death was confirmed by her lawyer L. Lin Wood, who noted that Patsy's husband, John, was beside her when she passed away.

"She was a unique, unique person who had the ability to look forward in her life and I think was able to deal with the tragedy in a fashion that most of us simply could not understand, much less could we ourselves be able to deal with the situation the way she did. Patsy just always looked forward and enjoyed every day," Wood told MSNBC after Patsy's death.

 The Netflix documentary "Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?" focuses on how Patsy coped with her daughter's tragic demise and how she felt after she was considered a suspect in her own daughter's slaying.

For more on tragic moments in the pageant world, learn about the heartbreaking deaths of former Miss America Leanza Cornett and "Toddlers & Tiara" star Kailia Posey.