John Ramsey found his 6-year-old daughter strangled in his basement 30 years ago.
Now a disgraced Colorado DNA analyst's guilty plea just handed John Ramsey new ammunition.
What John Ramsey is begging Boulder police to do has already caught more than 1,300 other killers.
Forensic Genetic Genealogy Has Already Solved 1300 Cold Cases
Forensic genetic genealogy takes DNA from a crime scene, uploads it to public ancestry databases, and traces family connections until investigators can put a name to a suspect – even one who never appeared in any criminal database.
This testing cracked the Golden State Killer case in 2018.
Bryan Kohberger behind bars for the Idaho murders using it.
It’s closed more than 1,300 cold cases nationwide – naming killers who hid for decades without a single record in any law enforcement database.
John Ramsey says Boulder already has everything they need to do exactly that.
"Bottom line is we have the killer's DNA and FGG is the new tool which could give us the killer's name if the police would only use it," Ramsey told Fox News Digital.
JonBenét Ramsey was found strangled and beaten in the basement of her Boulder, Colorado, home on Dec. 26, 1996, after her mother reported her missing Christmas night.
An independent laboratory – Bode Labs in Virginia – identified unknown male DNA in JonBenét's underwear in January 1997.
Subsequent rounds of testing found the same unknown male DNA profile on additional pieces of evidence – the same unidentified male, present at every turn, never charged.
Boulder police followed more than 21,000 tips and interviewed over 1,000 people.
No one has ever been charged.
The JonBenet Ramsey DNA Evidence Boulder Refuses to Test
The guilty plea of former Colorado Bureau of Investigation analyst Yvonne "Missy" Woods on June 23 poured gasoline on the long-running dispute.
Woods spent 29 years at CBI manipulating and deleting DNA data, casting doubt on more than 1,000 criminal cases.
She pleaded guilty to cybercrime, perjury, attempting to influence a public servant, and forgery.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, she faces a mandatory eight to 16 years in prison.
The Boulder Police Department and the Boulder County District Attorney's Office both confirmed that Woods' criminal conduct had no impact on the JonBenét Ramsey investigation.
The original DNA testing was performed by Bode Labs – not CBI.
But Ramsey says the scandal reinforces the exact argument he has been making for over a year: outside independent labs, not state bureaucracies, should handle the advanced forensic work.
"We have been begging the police to work with one of these labs, but we don't know if they will do it," he said.
The DA's office acknowledged that investigators are "actively exploring advanced DNA testing capabilities from outside independent labs."
Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said the case "remains a top priority" in a December 2025 statement, adding that detectives had "collected new evidence and tested and re-tested other pieces of evidence to generate new leads."
Ramsey called the approach "primitive."
"If you're just following up leads that come in, that's primitive," he told Fox News Digital.
Forensic genetic genealogy experts told Ramsey the technology requires only a minuscule sample to return results.
He puts the odds at 70 percent that his daughter's killer gets named within months – if investigators would make the call.
Ramsey has gone as far as calling on President Trump to force the issue.
"I need to get Donald Trump on them," Ramsey said at CrimeCon in Denver. "He'll stir things up one way or the other, but somehow we've got to get them to do that."
The DA's office confirmed investigators met with the Ramsey family several months ago and plan to continue providing updates.
Talking to the family is not the same as running the test.
Thirty years of bureaucratic patience produced 21,000 tips, 1,000 interviews, and a killer still walking free.
Boulder already has the DNA evidence and refuses to run the test.
John Ramsey has been asking for over a year.
JonBenét has been waiting 30 years.
Sources:
- Stepheny Price, "JonBenet Ramsey Mystery Reignited by Lab Scandal," Fox News Digital, July 12, 2026.
- "JonBenet Ramsey Case Could Benefit from New DNA Technology as Police Renew Commitment," Fox News Digital, December 2026.
- City of Boulder, JonBenet Ramsey Homicide Case Official Update, bouldercolorado.gov.
- "JonBenet Ramsey Case Gets Fresh Look with DNA Re-Testing and New Evidence," Fox 13, December 2025.