“More than 211,000 homicides committed since 1980
remain unsolved”, the Jon Benet Ramsey case is one of them (How Many Unsolved
Murders Are There in the US?). The six-year old beauty pageant queen was found
dead between December 25 and 26 of 1996 in her home in Boulder, Colorado.
Sometime after, conspiracy theories arose:
1.
Did her family
murder her and cover it up?
2.
Did someone
outside the family murder her?
3.
Is she still alive
and living under a different name?
Let’s examine the different answers to the questions
and find out what really happened to Jon Benet Ramsey.
Who was Jon Benet
Ramsey? She was a beautiful six-year old beauty queen: bleach blond hair,
bright green eyes, and a gorgeous smile. She lived with her wealthy family in
Boulder, Colorado, where she participated in many beauty pageants. Jon Benet
fit the perfect profile of a young beauty queen.
How did the people around Jon Benet describe her? A
family friend of the Ramsey’s described Jon Benet as a fun-loving and active
young girl (The Case of: Jon Benet Ramsey).
She would play with her dolls, her friends, and jump in piles of leaves
when autumn came around every year (The Case of: Jon Benet Ramsey).
Jon
Benet was found strangled to death in her family’s basement, the question still
lingers as to how that happened. Family and friends have witnessed some
external conflicts go on with the family and around Jon Benet. Such conflicts include
how Jon Benet’s mother, Patsy Ramsey, would treat her daughter and strict she
would be. Some have said that Pasty Ramsey has bleached her daughter’s hair
just for beauty pageants (The Case of: Jon Benet Ramsey). Why would a mother
bleach her young daughter’s hair? To give the illusion that she’s the perfect
little girl and pageant queen. In addition to how her mother treated her, Jon
Benet’s brother, Burke Ramsey, also wasn’t the picture-perfect brother. It has
been said that Burke Ramsey has hit his little sister with a golf club on the
account of, “she made him mad.” (The Case Of: Jon Benet Ramsey - Blunt Force
Trauma).
Even though Jon Benet was young she still had internal
conflicts going on in her young, vulnerable mind. With all the conflicts and
turmoil going on around her she might have started to think, “Why is my mom
making me do this”, or, “Why am I competing in these beauty pageants”. Many
friends of Jon Benet say that she didn’t like to show off all the crowns she
won and would rather just play like a normal child (The Case of: Jon Benet
Ramsey).
To family and friends, it’s hard to think that this
young child was just killed when she still had a full life ahead of her. To
think she could have had a family and a very successful career and her life was
cut short as the age of six. Jon Benet could live her life to the best of her
ability, even though she was young.
After the murder of Jon Benet Ramsey on December 25,
1996, many conspiracy theories have come up about how she died. The three main
conspiracy theories that arose during the time were if she was murdered by
someone in her family, if she was murdered by someone outside of the family, or
if she is still alive to this day. Let’s examine deeper into these conspiracy theories
and see which one is the most reasonable.
On Christmas night, Patsy Ramsey made a suspicious 911
call stating that her six- year old daughter, Jon Benet Ramsey, had been
kidnapped and a ransom letter had been left demanding for money (The Case Of: Jon
Benet Ramsey - Never Before Heard Audio). Later the next day, police showed up
to the Ramsey house, where family and friends roamed throughout the house
contaminating the crime scene. Even though the police were there they did not
ask the people that were there comforting the Ramsey family to leave, which
also drew suspicion to the entire investigation. Soon after the police arrive
to the scene of the crime, John Bennett and a family friend that was at the
residence searched around the house to look for any sign of Jon Benet or
anything that will help find her (Who Killed Jon Benet Ramsey- 8 Possible
Suspects). John Ramsey soon made his way to the basement where he found Jon
Benet strangled and dead. Many say that he was so distraught that he picked up
her dead body and carried her back into the living room, which contaminated
evidence that could have been used for the investigation. Even though she was
found in her family home the question remains, who murdered this young girl?
Many investigators and people point the finger towards
the family. During the investigation, the family was acting very strange and
many believe they were putting on a show for the police. The first red light
went off during the 911 call Patsy Ramsey made. When Patsy Ramsey made the
call, she didn’t mention Jon Benet’s name at all and the phone operator said
she heard Patsy and two other people talking. The two people that were believed
to be in the room were John Ramsey and Burke Ramsey, Jon Benet’s brother (The
Case Of: Jon Benet Ramsey - Never Before Heard Audio). Another red light was
the ransom note found in the house. It is said that the ransom note is too
detailed and long for an intruder to write it. One specific detail was that it
had John Ramsey’s exact bonus in it, which consisted of 118,000 dollars. It
also is said to have quotes from movies in the note (The Case of: Jon Benet
Ramsey). The last red light was the fact that many people were walking around
the house when they weren’t. By the people walking around the house, the crime
scene was contaminated.
The theory that
surrounds the family is that Jon Benet’s mother or brother killed her and her
family covered it up. The theory that surrounds her mother is that when Jon
Benet wet the bed after a Christmas party, Patsy go so furious with her that
she pushed Jon Benet against a hard object that fractured her skull (Who Killed
Jon Benet Ramsey? 8 Possible Suspects). The theory that surrounds her brother
is that after coming home from a Christmas party, Burke was eating pineapple,
when Jon Benet decided to have a bite. Burke got so infuriated he took the
object that was close to him and hit Jon Benet in the head (The Case Of: Jon
Benet Ramsey - Blunt Force Trauma).
The second conspiracy theory that surrounds her death
is that someone outside the family murdered her. One person that was a man of
interest was John Mark Karr. The school teacher confessed to the murder of
young Jon Benet in 2006, ten years after the murder. He explained in explicit
detail about the murder and was arrested in Thailand, where he was in the run
because of child pornography charges (Who Killed Jon Benet Ramsey? 8 Possible
Suspects). After he confessed, he was later let go of the charges of the murder
because he had no DNA at the crime scene. Others have been questioned on the
murder of the young child, but were later let go because none of the evidence
pointed toward them.
The last conspiracy that plagues the young child’s
death is that she can still be alive to this day. Many believe that Jon Benet
is Katy Perry due to their resemblance. This theory is not very believable
because there is not that much evidence to show that she is Katy Perry and the
two were born six years apart.
The most reasonable theory about Jon Benet is the fact
that someone in her family murdered her and tried to cover it up. This is the
most reasonable theory due to the evidence that surrounds the family and the
suspicious actions the family did. The people that participated in my survey
also agreed with my theory. Fourteen out of the twenty I surveyed also believed
that the mother or the brother committed the crime. Many people believe that
someone in the Ramsey family murdered Jon Benet.
Even though the murder of Jon Benet is shrouded in
mystery, maybe one of these conspiracy theories about her death can reveal the
truth about her murder.
The Jon Benet Ramsey murder case remains as one of the
211,000 homicides that are still unsolved (How Many Unsolved Murders Are There
in the US?). The six- year old’s murder developed into three conspiracy
theories:
1. Did
her family murder her and cover it up?
2. Did
someone outside the family murder her?
3. Is she
still alive and living under a different name?
Although a lot of evidence points towards the family,
the murder of Jon Benet Ramsey remains unsolved to this day.
Works Cited
“The Case Of: Jon Benet Ramsey Video - The Case Of: Jon
Benet Ramsey, Part 1 - CBS.com.” CBS, www.cbs.com/shows/the-case-of-jonbenet-ramsey/video/24057F14-C6CD-B5FC-5F37-36E83AF1D780/the-case-of-jonbenet-ramsey-part-1/.
How Many Unsolved Murders Are There in the U.S.? •
DecodeDC.” DecodeDC, 23 July 2015, http://www.decodedc.com/how-many-unsolved-murders-are-there-in-the-u-s/.
CBS. “The Case Of: Jon Benet Ramsey - Blunt Force
Trauma.” YouTube, YouTube, 18 Sept. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=72p_NjCl4pE.
CBS. “The Case Of: Jon Benet Ramsey - Never Before
Heard Audio.” YouTube, YouTube, 18 Sept. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=izUi0zZFZ5M.
Lovitt, Bryn. “Who Killed Jon Benet Ramsey? 8 Possible
Suspects.” Rolling Stone, 12 Oct. 2016, www.rollingstone.com/culture/lists/who-killed-jonbenet-ramsey-8-possible-suspects-w443881/the-brother-w443885.
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