BOULDER, Colo.---Police say the slaying of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey in Colorado two decades ago remains an open investigation with investigators regularly receiving information.
Renewed interest ahead of the 20th anniversary of the unsolved case prompted Boulder police Chief Greg Testa to issue a video statement Thursday saying the department will not comment on the investigation. Testa said investigators have collected 1,500 pieces of evidence, including the analysis of 200 DNA samples, traveled to 18 states to interview about 1,000 people and have received, reviewed or investigated more than 20,000 tips, letters or emails.
Testa said “an arrest and successful prosecution” remains the department’s goal.
JonBenet was reported missing from her home on Dec. 26, 1996. Her body was later found in the basement of her family’s home.
Her father, John Ramsey, recently issued a statement on the matter. “We absolutely felt like we were the victim of a lynch mob led by the media,” he said in a video. “There’s no question that the Boulder police department believed we were the killers.”
John and his ex-wife Patsy were initially suspects in the murder of the girl, but they weren’t removed from the suspect list until 2008. Their son Burke Ramsey was cleared in 1999.
Burke also spoke for the first time about his sister’s death, speaking on the “Dr. Phil” show several weeks ago: “I know people think I did it; that my parents did it.” He added, “I want to honor her memory by doing this interview. I don’t want anyone to forget,” according to People.
Epoch Times contributed to this report.
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