The morning after Christmas Day 1996, six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey was reported missing... only for her body to be discovered hours later in her family’s home. Nearly three decades later, the questions remain: What really happened that night? Who is responsible for her death? And why has this case gone unsolved for so long?For years, Ashley Flowers vowed never to cover this infamous case – unless she could hear directly from the Ramsey family. In this episode, Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat explore the chilling details of JonBenét’s case, the infamous ransom note, and the lingering theories surrounding the investigation. With exclusive insights from JonBenét’s father, John Ramsey, this is a story you won’t want to miss.We referenced a lot of reporting and resources surrounding this case! You can find them below:Officer French’s 12/26/96 Field ReportDet. Linda Arndt’s 1/8/97 Detective Supplemental ReportClips from John and Patsy Ramsey’s 1/1/97 CNN InterviewDet. Linda Arndt’s 1999 Good Morning America InterviewThe full text of Fleet White’s letter “To the people of Colorado”The full text of Det. Steve Thomas’s resignation letterTo learn more about Lou Smit’s suspect database, and his work on the case, listen to The Killing of JonBenét Ramsey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.And be sure to head to Netflix on November 25th to watch their new documentary, Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?Head over to the Crime Junkie YouTube Channel to watch this episode and Ashley’s sit-down interview with John Ramsey, you won’t want to miss it!Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit: crimejunkiepodcast.com/murdered-jonbenet-ramsey/ And you heard it right – Crime Junkie Tour 2025 is officially on the books! To stay up to date on any and all things tour and tickets, be sure to visit our website. Did you know you can listen to this episode ad-free? Join the Fan Club! Visit crimejunkie.app/library/ to view the current membership options and policies. Don’t miss out on all things Crime Junkie!Instagram: @crimejunkiepodcast | @audiochuckTwitter: @CrimeJunkiePod | @audiochuckTikTok: @crimejunkiepodcastFacebook: /CrimeJunkiePodcast | /audiochuckllcCrime Junkie is hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat. Instagram: @ashleyflowers | @britprawatTwitter: @Ash_Flowers | @britprawatTikTok: @ashleyflowerscrimejunkieFacebook: /AshleyFlowers.AF Text Ashley at 317-733-7485 to talk all things true crime, get behind the scenes updates, and more!
Chapter 1: What happened the night JonBenét Ramsey went missing?
Hi, Crime Junkies. I'm Ashley Flowers. And I'm Britt. And I'm finally freaking doing it. We're going on tour. Well, yes. Yeah. So that's happening. Crime Junkie tour is real. Make sure you're in the fan club. If you want to buy tickets early, fan club will get access on Monday, December 2nd. Go to our website. I'll link to all the things in the show notes. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
That's not what I actually meant. I am doing the case that I said I would never do. The case that is... our crime junkie origin story.
Yeah, we've said it a million times, but I mean, never say never, right?
Yeah. And like, I think it is for a long time. I just didn't think that there was anything that I could add. Right. Like, it's been done, you know, seven ways to Sunday. I literally feel like there are more like or less versions of the Bible than there are of like books written by people who like maybe even tangentially touched this case. So like, what would we have to add? Right.
That's kind of how it always felt. But what I didn't realize is like, I didn't know the whole story. And I, of course, am talking about the case of JonBenét Ramsey.
And when you say, like, our origin story, like, we were tabloid height when it happened. This is what made us crime junkies.
Yeah, people always ask, like, how did you become a crime junkie? And I'm like, you know, my mom, my grandma, they got me into mysteries. I was reading everything. But really, we're about the same age as JonBenét, which her dad reminded me of when I sat down with him. And we were in the grocery store. And it was like the first time you look at somebody who looks like you, who's your age.
And all you see is like murdered across her forehead. And it's when those like mysteries, I was like, oh, this thing, these kind of things happen in real life. So for a generation who didn't grow up tabloid height, staring into the green eyes of a beauty queen in the making.
And for those of us who did, but maybe don't know all the facts or maybe just know this case like on a surface level and you want to really know how we got here and what you can do now, I got you. I have dug deep. I thought I knew everything there was to know about JonBenet because I grew up with the case. But I found out that what I knew was just the tip of the freaking iceberg, you guys.
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Chapter 2: What is the significance of the ransom note?
That feels like the 911 call heard around the world by this point. But when it first came into Boulder Police on December 26, 1996, at 5.52 in the morning, they had no clue how infamous this call was going to become. All they knew was that they had a report of a kidnapping in an upscale neighborhood of their safe little community.
Now, Patsy says that she made two more calls to friends of theirs after the 911 call, the Whites and the Fernies. She was asking them to come over for support before she went to, like, pace in front of their window. Now, what in actuality was probably just a couple of minutes felt to her like hours.
And when the marked car pulled up at 555, she says her heart sank because the ransom letter had said not to call police and that kidnappers were watching. And if they saw police, that they would hurt JonBenet. But it was too late now.
When Officer French made it inside, Jon immediately took him to where the three-page handwritten ransom note was like splayed out on the wooden floor just off the kitchen near the stairs that Patsy had found it on. And Britt, I'm going to have you. Would you mind actually reading it? Oh, sure.
The ransom note says, Mr. Ramsey, listen carefully. We are a group of individuals that represent a small foreign faction. We respect your business, but not the country that it serves. At this time, we have your daughter in our possession. She is safe and unharmed. If you want her to see 1997, you must follow our instructions to the letter. you will withdraw $118,000 from your account.
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Chapter 3: How did the police respond to JonBenét's disappearance?
$100,000 will be in $100 bills and the remaining $18,000 in $20 bills. Make sure that you bring an adequate size attache to the bank. When you get home, you will put the money in a brown paper bag. I will call you between 8 and 10 a.m. tomorrow to instruct you on delivery. The delivery will be exhausting, so I advise you to be rested.
If we monitor you getting the money early, we might call you early to arrange an earlier delivery of the money and hence an earlier pickup of your daughter. Any deviation of my instructions will result in the immediate execution of your daughter. You will also be denied her remains for a proper burial.
The two gentlemen watching over your daughter do not particularly like you, so I advise you not to provoke them. Speaking to anyone about your situation, such as police, FBI, et cetera, will result in your daughter being beheaded. If we catch you talking to a stray dog, she dies. If you alert bank authorities, she dies. If the money is in any way marked or tampered with, she dies.
You will be scanned for electronic devices, and if any are found, she dies. You can try to deceive us. But be warned that we are familiar with law enforcement countermeasures and tactics. You stand a 99% chance of killing your daughter if you try to outsmart us. Follow our instructions and you stand a 100% chance of getting her back.
You and your family are under constant scrutiny, as well as the authorities. Don't try to grow a brain, John. You are not the only fat cat around, so don't think that killing will be difficult. Don't underestimate us, John. Use that good Southern common sense of yours. It's up to you now, John. Victory.
S-B-T-C. So, okay, so that's the letter that they're working with.
And what we know is the Ramseys had an alarm system, but they hadn't set it the night before or actually even in a long time, not since it had gone off accidentally and scared the living pants off JonBenet and her older brother, Burke, who, by the way, is nine at this point and still asleep upstairs in his room, according to mom and dad.
Now, they say that they had checked on him once when they realized that JonBenet was missing, but once they saw that he was okay, they wanted to just let him sleep. I'm assuming they probably just didn't want him to worry until they had a better idea of what was going on and what they were going to do. Once they knew that there was going to be help, then they would worry about it.
So Officer French does this quick skim of the house. And I say quick, but this puppy was over 6,000. I mean, I've heard one place like 7,000 square feet, had like 15 rooms, four different floors, if you include the basement. But French does this quick look through. He doesn't see anything that jumps out.
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Chapter 4: What were the key findings from JonBenét's autopsy?
And that is really hard to do. So, like, again, as we're going through this, keep an open mind. Even our episode won't be the end-all, be-all. But I'll get back to the facts. So, they come back to Boulder. This is after the funeral. I don't know who travels with who. Priscilla and Fleet might even leave early. There's...
Like this talk about how they didn't like how they were treated by everyone in Atlanta, like they were expecting them to act like things were fine or everything was just too formal, like they were grieving. I don't know. But eventually, everyone goes back to Boulder. Oh, sorry, just wait, one more thing. So it's a weird fleet thing.
So before we go back to Boulder, so when Patsy was telling authorities about this fleet altercation, she said something that set off like truly like fire alarms in my head. Okay, so this is after Flea is kept from getting on the plane, but before he flips out and Patsy's like hiding in the basement or whatever.
So Patsy says that when they're in Atlanta, she sort of remembers Priscilla White, who's Flea's wife, standing in her mom's living room saying something like, "'Well, I know what's going on. If you would give me a few minutes of your time, I could let you in on some things.'" And Patsy turns to her and she says, Priscilla, how can you know so much? I'm the mother of this child and I know nothing.
So the person asking her, interviewing her when she's like talking about this, asked her what she was talking about. And Patsy's like, I don't have a clue. Like, you know, I really wish I would have taken her up on the offer to like see what she knew. But what? Like, we still have time here. What did Priscilla know about? I don't know, man. We don't know.
Our team tried to reach out to the whites like nothing back. Maybe they would say that like they never even said that. Maybe they would say that whatever they said was taken out of context. Maybe they would say what John says and nobody remembers. Surely police talked to them at some point, though, right? Oh, yeah. And from everything that's been reported, the whites are super cooperative.
They wanted to help in any way that they could.
You could help by telling us what you were saying to them when you were freaking out. That seems like a really good place to start.
I know. And I like it had to have gotten asked. And maybe there is a very vanilla answer. But Boulder PD has been super tight lipped on the whites or honestly pretty much any other people that they interviewed who weren't the Ramseys. All the stuff that gets leaked are about the Ramseys. Everything has a slant. Like, I mean, seriously, no matter what side you take, things are slanted.
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Chapter 5: What evidence was found at the Ramsey home?
The significant opinions of national experts were casually dismissed or ignored by the district attorney's office. Even the experienced FBI were waived aside. In a departure from protocol, police reports, physical evidence, and investigative information we shared with Ramsey defense attorneys, all of this in the district attorney's office spirit of cooperation.
I served a search warrant, only to find later defense attorneys were simply given copies of the evidence it yielded. An FBI agent, whom I didn't even know, quietly tipped me off about what the DA's office was doing behind our backs, conducting an investigation the police department was wholly unaware of.
I was advised not to speak to certain witnesses and all but dissuaded from pursuing particular investigative efforts. Innocent people were not cleared, publicly or otherwise, even when it was unmistakably the right thing to do, as reputations and lives were destroyed.
Some in the district attorney's office, to this day, pursue weak, defenseless, and innocent people in shameless tactics that one couldn't believe more bizarre if it were made up. I was told by one in the district attorney's office about being unable to break a particular police officer from his resolute accounts of events he had witnessed. In my opinion, this was not trial preparation.
This was an attempt to derail months of hard work. there is evidence that was critical to the investigation that to this day has never been collected because neither search warrants nor other means were supported to do so. Not to mention evidence which still sits today, untested in the laboratory, as differences continue about how to proceed.
While investigative efforts were rebuffed, my search warrant affidavits and attempts to gather evidence in the murder investigation of a six-year-old child were met with refusals and instead the suggestion that we ask the permission of the Ramseys before proceeding. And just before conducting the Ramsey interviews, I thought it inconceivable I was being lectured on building trust.
These are but a few of the many examples of why I chose to leave. Having to convince, to plead at times, to a district attorney's office to assist us in the murder of a little girl by way of the most basic of investigative requests was simply absurd. I believe the district attorney's office is thoroughly compromised.
When we were told by one in the district attorney's office months before we had even completed our investigation that this case is not prosecutable, we shook our heads in disbelief. Will there be a real attempt at justice? I may be among the last to find out. It is my belief the district attorney's office has effectively crippled this case. The time for intervention is now.
What I witnessed for two years of my life was so fundamentally flawed, it reduced me to tears. Everything the badge ever meant to me was so foundationally shaken. One should never have to sell one's soul as a prerequisite to wear it.
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Chapter 6: How did the media coverage affect the investigation?
The match of male DNA on two separate items of clothing worn by the victim at the time of the murder makes it clear to us that an unknown male handled these items.
Despite substantial efforts over the years to identify the source of this DNA, there is no innocent explanation for its incriminating presence at three sites on these two different items of clothing that JonBenet was wearing at the time of her murder. Solving this crime remains our goal, and its ultimate resolution will depend on more than just matching DNA.
However, given the history of the publicity surrounding this case, I believe it is important and appropriate to provide you with our opinion that your family was not responsible for this crime. Based on the DNA results and our serious consideration of all the other evidence, we are comfortable that the profile now in CODIS is the profile of the perpetrator of this murder.
To the extent that we may have contributed in any way to the public perception that you might have been involved in this crime, I am deeply sorry. No innocent person should have to endure such an extensive trial in the court of public opinion, especially when public officials have not had sufficient evidence to initiate a trial in a court of law.
I have the greatest respect for the way you and your family have handled this adversity. I am aware that there will be those who will choose to continue to differ with our conclusion. But DNA is very often the most reliable forensic evidence we can hope to find and we rely on it often to bring to justice those who have committed crimes.
I am very comfortable that our conclusion that this evidence has vindicated your family is based firmly on all the evidence, including the reliable forensic DNA evidence that has been developed as a result of advances in that scientific field during this investigation.
We intend in the future to treat you as the victims of this crime, with the sympathy due you because of the horrific loss you suffered. Otherwise, we will continue to refrain from publicly discussing the evidence in this case. We hope that we will one day obtain a DNA match from the CODIS data bank that will lead to further evidence and to the solution of this crime.
With the recent legislative changes throughout the country, the number of profiles available for comparison in the CODIS data bank is growing steadily. Law enforcement agencies are receiving increasing numbers of cold hits on DNA profiles that have been in the system for many years. We hope that one day soon we will get a match to this perpetrator. We will, of course, contact you immediately.
Perhaps only then we will begin to understand the psychopathy or motivation for this brutal and senseless crime. Respectfully, Mary T. Lacey, District Attorney, 20th Judicial District, Boulder, Colorado.
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Chapter 7: What are the theories surrounding JonBenét's case?
This is not a version of any story we've heard.
Ever, ever heard. And I asked John specifically about this because in my mind, I'm like, oh, my God, this is like... If Burke is downstairs when all this happened, like, did he hear something? Did he see something? And I asked John about this. And again, I go back to, like, I know John and Patsy did media training. Like, did they just, like, throw Burke to the wolves, like, without it?
Like, and Dr. Phil says that John's the one that told him this. So I asked John about it. And at first, John was like, oh, no, no. Like, that's, so much has gotten misreported. That's not real. And I said, no, John, like, Dr. Phil says you told him this. And then Burke responds and agrees and says, yes, I was downstairs. And John just said, like, I didn't know that. Okay.
So I asked him, you know, in our interview, I was like, I know people have talked to Burke. Like, they had a lot of child psychologists at the time trying to, like, you have to handle that really sensitively. He's nine. Yeah. I know those people were talking to him, but did at any point you and Patsy have conversations with him? And, like, John, like, immediately shut it down.
He's like, no, there's no way he did this. And I'm like, actually, that's not what I'm saying. Like, when we were young, like, we grew up with siblings. I'm like, now there's a world where he's downstairs. Even if he wasn't, say that all of that was, like, Dr. Phil Weird's slip-up. There's, in my mind, things that like kids see.
A relationship and a bond that like siblings have and you don't necessarily like put the weight in them as a kid.
Yeah. And like there are things like I knew about my siblings or like I saw them in a different way than my parents saw them. I saw the way that we interacted with other people differently than my parents saw. Like also kids are like attuned to things like that you notice so much. Yeah. Especially when, like, so many people are ignoring you as a kid.
Like, you just pick up on a lot that I asked him. I was like, like, there could be something he knows that he doesn't even know he knows if you've never talked to him in all these years. And John said that, like, he's confident that Burke would have told him if there were something.
So, I mean, I think that you're like, how do you balance that of, like, trying to do right by your one kid, trying to get justice for the other one? And I think what he is trusting is... That Burke would tell him something if there was something to tell. Or if he, you know, years and years and years down the line, if something comes to him, like, he's going to come for it. It's his sister.
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