John Ramsey, father of JonBenét Ramsey, told "Fox & Friends" on Thursday that he sees "very encouraging" signs of a potential breakthrough in his daughter's case — nearly three decades after the six-year-old was found dead in her family's basement in Boulder, Colorado, the day after Christmas in 1996.
The interview came alongside the release of a new Fox Nation docuseries, "JonBenét: The Killer List," which revisits the case that has haunted the American conscience for a generation. Ramsey's central claim is simple and damning: not all of the crime scene evidence has been tested for DNA, including the garrote used in his daughter's death.
If that's true, it raises a question that should keep Boulder officials up at night. How does a case this prominent, this scrutinized, this publicly agonized over, still have untested physical evidence sitting in storage?
A Detective's Prophecy
Ramsey invoked the late Lou Smit, a detective brought in by the district attorney early in the investigation. Smit, who solved over 200 homicides in his career before he died in 2010, left Ramsey with a prediction that has aged into something closer to a mandate:
"Lou Smit, the detective who was brought in by the district attorney early on, legendary detective, solved over 200 homicides in his career, said, 'John, this case will be solved by DNA.'"
Ramsey believes that moment has arrived. He pointed to forensic genealogy research — the technique that has broken open cold cases across the country in recent years — as the missing piece.
"There's a new approach called forensic genealogy research that allows you to use vast amounts of DNA information to investigate the crime. And that's the piece that needs to be used."
The technology exists. The evidence, apparently, still sits waiting. The only variable is institutional will.
Boulder's Leadership Problem
Ramsey referenced recent changes in Boulder's police leadership as a source of his cautious optimism, though he offered no specifics about who took over or what shifted. That vagueness is worth noting — not because Ramsey is being evasive, but because Boulder's handling of this case has been defined by opacity for decades.
This is a city whose police department became synonymous with a botched investigation. The crime scene was compromised. Leads were pursued with more enthusiasm for media consumption than forensic rigor. And the Ramsey family endured years of public suspicion, fueled in part by leaks and innuendo that never produced a conviction or even a charge.
If new leadership in Boulder genuinely represents a break from that institutional failure, the proof will be in what happens next: whether every piece of evidence finally gets the DNA analysis it should have received years ago.
What Cold Case Breakthroughs Actually Require
The broader story here isn't unique to the Ramsey case. Across the country, cold cases have cracked open not because of some dramatic new witness or a deathbed confession, but because forensic genealogy did what conventional detective work couldn't. The Golden State Killer. The Bear Brook murders. Cases that sat dormant for decades were solved by cross-referencing DNA profiles against genealogical databases.
The technology works. But it requires two things that bureaucracies often struggle to provide: initiative and accountability. Someone has to authorize the testing. Someone has to push the process forward against the institutional inertia that keeps old evidence in old boxes.
Ramsey's frustration, clearly tempered by years of public composure, is that the tools are there and the evidence is there. What's been missing is the decision to use one over the other.
"And I think we're at that point now, if we use the technology that's available."
A Father's Restraint
What's striking about Ramsey's public demeanor — nearly thirty years into this nightmare — is the discipline. He doesn't rage against Boulder PD on camera. He doesn't litigate the decades of suspicion that were cast on his own family. He talks about DNA, evidence, and technology. He talks about his daughter.
"She was a very up, energetic, very amazing little girl, and I miss her deeply."
JonBenét Ramsey was six years old. She has now been gone for almost thirty years, five times longer than she was alive. Her case became a media obsession, a true-crime industry, a cultural shorthand for unsolved tragedy. Somewhere beneath all of that, a father is still waiting for an answer.
The DNA exists. The technology exists. The question is whether the people with authority over this case will finally use both, or whether Boulder will let another decade pass while the evidence sits untouched.
