JonBenét Ramsey's family is finally celebrating Christmas again, 27 years after she was murdered on December 26.
John Ramsey, 80, said it took years for his family to celebrate the holiday again after his daughter was found strangled and beaten to death in the basement of the family's home in Boulder, Colorado, the day after Christmas, Dec. 26, 1996.
Ramsey, now a grandfather, told Fox News Digital that “we should enjoy the people in our lives” and said he will spend Christmas with his adult son, daughter and their children.
“It will be a joyful Christmas,” he said. “You have to remember what Christmas is all about, and that helps strengthen our outlook on life and what life is all about.”
In 2008, Ramsey and his family were finally acquitted following JonBenet's death. after years of speculation that JonBenet's parents or older brother may have been involved in the gruesome crime.
The case remains an active, open investigation and there are no suspects at this time.
John Ramsey, 80, said it took years for his family to celebrate the holiday again after his daughter was found strangled and beaten to death in the basement of the family's home in Boulder, Colorado, the day after Christmas, Dec. 26, 1996.
Pictured: JonBenet Ramsey, 6, was a child beauty queen and murder victim. Her killer has not yet been identified and the investigation remains open. JonBenet would have been 33 years old today
An undated photo of John and Patricia 'Patsy' Ramsey with their children JonBenet and Burke
Ramsey said he realized it wasn't “fair” to his son Burke, now 36, JonBenet's brother, explaining that he and his late wife Patsy “really tried to give him a normal childhood,” according to Fox News digital.
In June 2006, Patricia “Patsy” Ramsey, John's second wife with whom he had two children – JonBenet and Burke – died of ovarian cancer at the age of 49.
Ramsey had three children – John, Elizabeth and Melinda – from his first wife, Lucinda Ramsey.
In January 1992, four years before JonBenet's murder, he suffered another unimaginable tragedy when his daughter Elizabeth “Beth,” from his first marriage, was killed in a car accident. She was 22.
In 2011, Ramsey remarried.
John Ramsey in a recent interview with Fox. He said the family is now ready to celebrate Christmas again
During the Fox interview, he said he was a different person after his daughter's death.
'It impacts us, not just on December 26. It's with us – I've told people, the death of a child… you can't get over that. You don't go any further. You are a changed person.”
'And I'm sure the same applies to my other children. It's horrible for them to have to live with, but you move on, and you have to move on and create new memories.”
The Boulder City Medical Examiner revealed after an autopsy was performed that the little girl she owned had suffered an 8 1/2 inch skull fracture and had been hit in the head.
New DNA testing was completed last month, including new evidence, as well as some previously reviewed, which was analyzed by a criminal laboratory and returned to police.
The results have yet to be released, but a detailed DNA report has been provided to authorities.
It is hoped the development can help solve the brutal 1996 murder of six-year-old Colorado.
John was the person who discovered his daughter's beaten and battered body in the basement of the family home.
The boy was covered in a white blanket with a nylon cord around her neck, her wrists tied above her head and her mouth covered with duct tape.
There was no clear evidence of rape, but police did not rule out sexual abuse.
A bizarre ransom note was also discovered demanding $118,000 from her family.
The coroner determined that JonBenet died of “asphyxia due to strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma,” meaning she had been strangled and beaten.
Her death was ruled a homicide, but no one was ever charged with the murder.
For years, JonBenet's parents and brother, Burke, who was just nine years old when his sister died, were under a cloud of suspicion.
They were formally taken off the suspect list in 2008, two years after Patsy succumbed to ovarian cancer.
In 2019, Burke sued CBS for $750 million over a documentary it aired that pointed the finger at him for his sister's death.
Police have never formally charged anyone in JonBenet's death, but there have been several suspects over the years.
New DNA tests that could unlock the mystery of the brutal 1996 murder of Colorado child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey have finally been completed
The coroner determined that the pageant girl's cause of death was “asphyxia due to strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma,” meaning she had been strangled and beaten. Her death was ruled a homicide, but no one was ever charged with the murder
The crime scene at Ramsey's luxury home in Colorado, following the murder of their six-year-old child
Among them is John Mark Karr, 58, who 17 years ago claimed he was with JonBenét when she died in her family's home 10 years earlier.
Karr was extradited from his home in Thailand following his 'confession', in which he claimed that JonBenét had died 'accidentally'.
During his interrogation, he knew details about the murder that had not been made public.
But authorities were unable to link him to the scene of the crime and he was released. Karr later suggested that he had lied about his confession to cover for someone else.
“Everyone was so quick to say I was a liar or delusional,” he said. “Did it ever occur to anyone that I might be trying to protect someone else?”
He declined to elaborate, but one possible explanation open to some police at the time is that Ramsey's killer did not work alone.
When asked if he was with JonBenét when she died, or if he killed her, Karr kept quiet and said he did not want to incriminate himself as the case is still under investigation almost 27 years after the crime.
Last month, Ramsey discussed the DNA evidence on an episode of NewsNation.
“We know that evidence was taken from the crime scene that was never tested for DNA,” he said.
'There are some advanced labs that have the latest technology. That's where this test should be done.
“And then use the public genealogy database with all the information we get to research and basically create a family tree going backwards, which has been hugely successful in solving some very old cases.”
Sources do not believe the new DNA evidence will provide a match for the family.
At the time, unprecedented DNA was found under the child's fingernails and on her clothing.
Burke Ramsey, now 36, was just nine years old when his sister was brutally murdered
John Mark Karr was extradited from Thailand and arrested for the murder of JonBenét Ramsey after he confessed, but police were unable to link him to the scene and his confession was largely discredited
JonBenet's brother sued CBS for $750 million over a documentary that aired pointing the finger at him for his sister's death
The case gained national attention due to the shocking nature of the crime and JonBenét's notoriety in her local community, where she was known as the winner of Little Miss Colorado.
In 2006, Karr claimed he drugged JonBenét and then had sex with her, but her autopsy revealed no drugs or alcohol in her system on blood tests.
And despite his claim that he sexually assaulted Ramsey, no semen was found on her body. However, the little girl did have minor vaginal abrasions.
Karr's confession was ultimately deemed an elaborate lie by investigators.
Last month it emerged that detectives were reportedly looking for new people of interest in the murder after analyzing almost 1,000 DNA samples.
In 2021, Boulder police said they had interviewed more than 1,000 people in 19 different states as part of their ongoing investigation.
And in September they said there are “several” new people on their radar, sources claim.