Mother of JonBenet Ramsey dies of cancer

[estranged4life]

Patsy Ramsey succumbs to recurrance of ovarian cancer at age 49

DENVER - Patsy Ramsey, the mother of slain 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, died Saturday morning after a recurrence of ovarian cancer, her lawyer L. Lin Wood told MSNBC. She was 49.

Her husband, John, was with her at the time of her death.

"Patsy just always looked forward and enjoyed every day," Wood said.

JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in her parents' Boulder, Colo. basement on Dec. 26, 1996. A grand jury investigation ended with no indictments, and no arrests have been made. NBC VIDEO


A cloud of suspicion has hung over John Ramsey and his wife since the December 1996 slaying of JonBenet, but no one has ever been charged.

The district attorney and a federal judge in Colorado have said it is likelier that an intruder was responsible, as the parents insist.

The Ramseys left Colorado and had residences in Michigan, where John Ramsey unsuccessfully ran for office, and Atlanta.

[goldie]

Another door closes on this tale, I guess.

[jannieC]

You know, I have always been borderline obsessed with this case. I've read tons of material/books/interviews and I have always believed Patsy was guilty of some kind of involvement. I wonder now if I'll ever know the truth.

[Janet]

IF she hurt that little girl, I guess she got what she deserved then..........I don't know HOW to feel about this.

[amber]

You know, I have always been borderline obsessed with this case. I've read tons of material/books/interviews and I have always believed Patsy was guilty of some kind of involvement. I wonder now if I'll ever know the truth.
I saw a show about it that went over the investigation of all the sexual offenders in the area, and narrowed it down to one guy, a really blond guy, who committed suicide awhile later. But the case against him was compelling, at least on this show. Have you seen that one? He had child porn, and a friend who may have known, or assisted him, or something - and also a bootprint there matched his boot. There was other evidence, but it's been awhile since I've seen it.

[JazmenFlowers]

I believe she and her husband were the only culprits in JonBenet's death, though I'm not sure of who did what.

I'm not sure what to say re: her death. I guess I'll just say it's all terribly sad.

[Gypsy-Rhiannon]

I saw a program about this and it featured Lou Smit who worked on the case for 18 months and then quit over the handling of the case. I must admit after watching it I felt the parents had nothing to do with it and that the police handled it all terribly

[GODDESS6]

I saw a show about it that went over the investigation of all the sexual offenders in the area, and narrowed it down to one guy, a really blond guy, who committed suicide awhile later. But the case against him was compelling, at least on this show. Have you seen that one? He had child porn, and a friend who may have known, or assisted him, or something - and also a bootprint there matched his boot. There was other evidence, but it's been awhile since I've seen it.
i saw this too & like jannie, was obsessed w/ this case, i have tons of material on it & for a long time thought it was her mother, until watching this docu on this case~ but i think the parents were pretty much cleared of any wrong doing~ there was so much mishandling of the initial investigation, i guess we will truly never know~ this was sucha a sad tragedy & maybe now mother & daughter can R.I.P.~

[Mad4stevie]

It is a shame that there is still such a misconception of this case as far as the parent's involvement. There is actual DNA evidence from this crime and it completely rules out physical involvement of the parents in the crime. Several of those associated with law enforcement resigned their positions because the mishandling of the case. Law enforcement officials did not follow up on numerous other leads in the case from the beginning, and had blinders on thinking that the parents were the only ones associated with the crime. Instead of acknowledging their inexperience and mishandling of the case, they continued to pursue it.

Do I think it was weird to dress that poor little girl up like a barbie doll? YES. Do I think that means the parents should be considered a more likely suspect in her murder? Absolutely not.

I always felt so sad for them. To lose your child in that horrible way and have no one believe you had nothing to do with it is just terrible. Not to mention this woman fought stage 4 cancer for the past 12 years. I believe at least now she is with her little girl in heaven.

[vermicious knid]

There is a forum called Websleuths (http://websleuths.com/forums/index.php?) that I was browsing last year. I read a lot about the case, and it was fascinating. From what I read, it looked like most of the people in those online communities thought the parents were guilty.

[gldstwmn]

I saw a show about it that went over the investigation of all the sexual offenders in the area, and narrowed it down to one guy, a really blond guy, who committed suicide awhile later. But the case against him was compelling, at least on this show. Have you seen that one? He had child porn, and a friend who may have known, or assisted him, or something - and also a bootprint there matched his boot. There was other evidence, but it's been awhile since I've seen it.

I didn't see the show but the investigation was badly bungled. Boulder PD was in way over their heads with this case. I think it's a strong possibility that the parents were not involved.

[gldstwmn]

I saw a program about this and it featured Lou Smit who worked on the case for 18 months and then quit over the handling of the case. I must admit after watching it I felt the parents had nothing to do with it and that the police handled it all terribly

They did. Boulder is a college town that is better equipped to handle under-age drinking, your garden variety assault and theft. This case was by far one of the most exotic things they'd ever seen. Offers were made from other police departments but were rebuffed. Also, the DNA evidence was never matched to anyone in the house or anyone else.

[jannieC]

I saw a show about it that went over the investigation of all the sexual offenders in the area, and narrowed it down to one guy, a really blond guy, who committed suicide awhile later. But the case against him was compelling, at least on this show. Have you seen that one? He had child porn, and a friend who may have known, or assisted him, or something - and also a bootprint there matched his boot. There was other evidence, but it's been awhile since I've seen it.
I have not seen this. I actually had to chill out on my JonBenet fascination because I was making myself so upset over it! And I realized that I will never know what happened and that really bugs me.

The Boulder police DESTROYED any chance of us finding out who did this. It's actually quite unbelievable how badly they treated the crime scene and the things they allowed to happen. However, I believe that their horrible ability to handle the case made it better for Patsy.

A couple of things have always bothered me about the case- the fact that it appeared JonBenet had been sexually abused prior to her murder, the handwriting analysis of the ransom note, much of Patsy's behavior in general, the way John Ramsey "found" his daughter; the whole thing is so sad. If she truly was innocent, I hope she is at peace now.

[BombaySapphire3]

the letters and all the statements to the press afterwards by the parents were pretty bizarre I always thought.Any parent that tricks their kid up like a 35 year old French ho has gotta be kinda warped IMO anyway.

[amber]

A couple of things have always bothered me about the case- the fact that it appeared JonBenet had been sexually abused prior to her murder, the handwriting analysis of the ransom note, much of Patsy's behavior in general, the way John Ramsey "found" his daughter; the whole thing is so sad. If she truly was innocent, I hope she is at peace now.

Oh, yeah - now I remember in the show they went over the handwriting analysis and compared it to that guy's, the pedophile, and that was part of the compelling evidence. What did you mean about the handwriting?
I wish you could see that show, after watching it I was convinced it was that guy. If it wasn't him, it's pretty weird his bootprint was by their basement, or house.
I think the Ramseys are weird, but I never thought they did it.

[gldstwmn]

Here's a pretty comprehensive link on the case:

http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/ramsey/index_1.html

[jannieC]

Oh, yeah - now I remember in the show they went over the handwriting analysis and compared it to that guy's, the pedophile, and that was part of the compelling evidence. What did you mean about the handwriting?
I wish you could see that show, after watching it I was convinced it was that guy. If it wasn't him, it's pretty weird his bootprint was by their basement, or house.
I think the Ramseys are weird, but I never thought they did it.
If I remember correctly, the ransom note was from a pad that belonged to the Ramseys, and that there was a practice note. It seemed odd that this person would have enough time (or feel that there was enough time) to write a practice note. I also remember reading that a handwriting expert linked Patsy to that note? I wish I had seen that show as well. gldstwmn has posted a link, I'll go check it out.

[Mad4stevie]

If I remember correctly, the ransom note was from a pad that belonged to the Ramseys, and that there was a practice note. It seemed odd that this person would have enough time (or feel that there was enough time) to write a practice note. I also remember reading that a handwriting expert linked Patsy to that note? I wish I had seen that show as well. gldstwmn has posted a link, I'll go check it out.

I don't remember anything about a "practice" note. There was no actual link between Patsy and the note; I believe the so-called law enforcement expert said that Patsy could not be excluded as the writer of the note, which is way, way different than linking her to the note.