Former El Paso County Sheriff John Wesley Anderson recently sat down to talk about the JonBenét Ramsey killing and revealed that hope for solving the case is beginning to run thin.
The cold case has been unsolved ever since Ramsey was murdered early on Christmas morning in 1996 but law enforcement, family, and others haven't given up hope and have been fighting to find the killer ever since.
Melody Ann Stanton, a Boulder, Colorado, neighbor who was the key witness in the case died last month at the age of 77.
InTouch Weekly reported that an expert investigator explained, "The principals of this case are dying — and others are forgetting what happened because of old age. The case is getting colder, and authorities are not willing to do the work to solve it.”
Considering all the unknowns in this case, every scrap of information matters and witnesses dying of old age is a serious problem for those who want justice for Ramsey.
In 1997, Stanton explained that on that night she had "heard a terrible sound. It was the longest, most horrible scream I have heard in my entire life. It sent shivers down my spine. I could tell the sound was coming from the Ramsey house, and I knew instantly it had to be their little girl.”
Stanton had a window open and between 12 and 2 a.m. she heard "one loud, incredible scream.”
Stanton explained that after that scream she heard no additional cries or noises. There was no vehicle peeling away or any other sounds of escape which further raised questions about what happened that night.
Ramsey was found sexually abused, bludgeoned, and garroted. Decades later key figures in the case have passed away with Stanton being the latest in a long list.
JonBenét's mother, Patsy Ramsey, died of ovarian cancer in 2006, and Bill McReynolds, a close family friend and person of interest died in 2002.
Furthermore, the detective who was hired by JonBenét's father, John Ramsey, died in 2010.
Time is very much taking its toll and it is beginning to look like the chances of JonBenét Ramsey's killer being brought to justice are reaching zero.
However, John Ramsey hasn't given up as he has petitioned Colorado Governor Jared Polis to allow the case to be handled by state police instead of Boulder police.
Ramsey explained, "We think there’s still hope for some movement and progress based on the new leadership in the organization. So, we’re cautiously hopeful that there is some progress and effort being made to do those things we’ve asked be done."
The best hope that the Ramsey's have for justice is through DNA evidence. We can only hope that a significant discovery is made soon before the case goes completely cold.
