The Most Tragic Details About JonBenet Ramsey's Family After Her Murder

The 1996 murder of 6-year-old JonBenét Ramsey was a shocking event that garnered intense media coverage not only in America, but around the world. JonBenét, a beauty pageant queen, was found dead in her parents' home in Boulder, Colorado the day after Christmas that year, and in the weeks and months that followed, it dominated the headlines and drove interest in the untold truth of childhood beauty pageants. Now, JonBenét's tragic case is once again taking center stage, thanks to a new documentary.

A three-part docuseries entitled "Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey," dropped on Netflix on November 25, 2024. The documentary was directed by Joe Berlinger, known for "Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes" and HBO's "Paradise Lost" trilogy. The JonBenét doc explores the infamous cold case nearly three decades later and also serves as a critique of how the media and police handled the tragedy. 

For audiences unfamiliar with the JonBenét case and the controversy surrounding it, the documentary will no doubt be heartbreaking. But for the family of the little girl whose killer was never found, their devastation continues.

Before JonBenét Ramsey's body was discovered in the basement of her home, a ransom note was found by her parents, her dad, John and her mother, Patsy Ramsey. The ransom note was unusual, not only because it was unusually lengthy and written on stationery found in the Ramsey home, but also because it told the Ramsey's to pay a ransom of $118,000, which suspiciously matched the amount of John's work bonus. 

When JonBenét was found, it was determined that she'd been struck in the head, strangled, and showed signs of sexual assault. As her parents were in shock and grieving the loss of their daughter, the public turned on John and Patsy, blaming them for her death. A grand jury in Boulder agreed and, in 1998, voted to indict them. But there was not enough evidence to bring charges and, in 2008, the District Attorney's office issued an apology to the family.

Though allegations had haunted John for years, he didn't express any anger over it when he spoke to People in November 2024. "Once your reputation is tarnished, rightly or wrongly, it never goes back to pure white," he said. "That's just life. And it doesn't bother me." John also pointed out that the family were mostly embraced by others at the time and believed the doubters were actually in the minority.

As the public believed John and Patsy Ramsey may have been behind the murder of their daughter JonBenét, her brother Burke Ramsey, was also suspected. Burke was only 9 years old at the time of his sister's murder, and was questioned by Boulder authorities. But he was never officially considered to be a suspect. However, that didn't prevent the public from running with the idea that Burke was the actual killer.

A 2016 CBS documentary put forth that theory as well, resulting in a $750 million dollar lawsuit brought against the network by Burke and his attorney. That lawsuit was settled out of court in 2019.

But no amount of money could make up for what Burke endured in the years following his sister's murder. A family member told US Weekly in November 2024 that Burke's childhood was lonely after JonBenét's death. "The family tried very hard to shield him," the family member stated, "but you can't shield a kid from the fact that his sister was murdered and everyone thinks that his family did it. Or that he did it."

In the years following her daughter's murder, Patsy Ramsey, like the rest of her family, lived under constant scrutiny from the media. Suspicions that she and her husband were involved, or that their son Burke was responsible for JonBenét's murder, followed Patsy for the rest of her life. That life tragically ended on June 24, 2006, when she died from ovarian cancer.

Much of the public criticism during Patsy's life centered on her supposedly pushing JonBenét into beauty pageants at such a young age. But Patsy's husband John defended his late wife, even years after her death. In a November 2024 feature on People, John said that JonBenét had fun on the pageant scene and that Patsy always encouraged both kids to pursue whatever activities they wanted. "Let them try anything they want," he recalled. "Zero into something they really like and they really did it."

A family friend told the The Denver Post shortly after Patsy's death in 2016 that she had been brave and that when things looked bleak, she always kept her faith. She also admired Patsy for her resilience amidst the chaos around her. "When it seemed like the whole nation turned against her, she held her head up and spoke out with courage and dignity."

The tragedies in the Ramsey family following JonBenét Ramsey's murder also included local police in Boulder, Colorado. Former Boulder police chief Mark Beckner, who joined the investigation nearly a year after the murder, took part in a 2015 "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit, where he answered questions about the investigation into JonBenét's murder (via ABC News). During the AMA, Beckner said authorities had mishandled the investigation from the start.

"The crime scene was not handled properly, and this later affected the investigation," Beckner remarked. He blamed the Christmas holiday for the department being short staffed, leading to confusion, before they had enough personnel to shut it down. "As a result, some evidence was compromised." Beckner noted that the crime scene wasn't protected, and blamed the investigators for it. He pointed out that full statements should have been taken from John and Patsy Ramsey the same day, but that did not happen.

Following Beckner's comments, Boulder Public Information Officer Kim Kobel told ABC News: "Those problems were acknowledged early in the investigation and over the years by Mark Beckner when he was chief. ... That information is not new." Beckner, upon realizing his comments on Reddit would be seen by the public at large, immediately pushed back saying he wasn't told that from the start. His words were later deleted from the platform.

Decades following JonBenét Ramsey's murder, the Ramsey family is still waiting for answers. "Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey" director Joe Berlinger hopes that will change, and told the New York Post in November 2024 he believed JonBenét's family had nothing to do with what happened.

"And I am also firmly convinced that this case can be solved," Berlinger commented, "if the Boulder Police Department finally does what it's supposed to do." Berlinger believed that Boulder authorities would perhaps be reinvigorated by the documentary, and dive back into the investigation.

Ahead of the release of the documentary, John Ramsey told Today: "I believe it can be solved if the police accept help from outside their system. That's been the flaw for 25 years." John also said that his efforts to bring closure didn't just affect him, but the rest of his family as well. "I'm doing this for the sake of my children and my grandchildren. This cloud over our family's name needs to be lifted."