JonBenet Ramsey: The Mysterious Death of a Child Beauty Queen

This selection of articles from The New York Times chronicles the mysterious murder of JonBenet Ramsey, a child beauty queen. The story began the morning of Dec. 26, 1996, when Patsy Ramsey called 911 to report her daughter missing from the family’s home in an affluent part of Boulder, Colo. Mrs. Ramsey also found a rambling, handwritten ransom note demanding the odd sum of $118,000 (the amount of her husband John’s company bonus). John Ramsey, a wealthy entrepreneur, then searched the house and discovered the battered body of his 6-year-old daughter in the basement. The girl had been strangled and sexually assaulted, and her skull was fractured. The brutal crime attracted vast media coverage. It also shed light on the world of child pageants. Images of JonBenet — wearing garish makeup, highlighted blonde hair and spangled costumes — were replayed endlessly on TV. But the police investigation stalled. For years, the Ramseys were considered suspects but denied their involvement (they were later cleared through DNA tests). A possible break in the case came in 2006, when John Mark Karr, a teacher with a record of child pornography charges, was arrested as a suspect, but DNA tests ruled him out. To this day, JonBenet’s murder still remains unsolved.