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SALT LAKE CITY — The JonBenét Ramsey murder case has been cold since 1996, but it still captivates the nation.
CeCe Moore, the chief genetic genealogist at Parabon NanoLabs, a Virginia-based DNA tech firm, recently brought the unsolved case to the forefront again, saying that the crime scene DNA could be analyzed through modern technology to reveal the killer.
"It might only be a matter of hours before that DNA contributor is identified," Moore said Sunday on 60 Minutes Australia.
Despite advances in technology, the detectives who managed the investigation in 1996 are not releasing any evidence. "To do nothing, continuously after 25 years is just not acceptable anymore," Moore said.
John Ramsey, JonBenét's father, also told 60 Minutes that investigators should be making efforts to use new technology in solving the case. "We want to do whatever can be done technically and resource-wise to find the killer of our daughter," he said.
On the morning of Dec. 26, 1996, JonBenét's mother, Patsy Ramsey, found a ransom note for her 6-year-old daughter on the back staircase inside their home in Boulder, Colorado.
Patsy Ramsey called police around 6 a.m, to report JonBenét as missing and reports say that the only people inside the house at the time were John and Patsy Ramsey and their 9-year-old son, Burke.
JonBenét's body was found by her father inside the Ramsey home in the basement utility room less than eight hours after calling the police. The autopsy found that she was bludgeoned to death and the coroner reported that she died of strangulation.
The ransom note found on the staircase requested $118,000 in exchange for the return of JonBenét. Detectives determined that the note was written with pen and paper that was found inside the house. That finding brought suspicion to the integrity of the note and whether the family had something to do with her death.
In the 60 Minutes interview, John Ramsey claimed police mishandled the investigation and jumped to hurtful conclusions. "They solved it in their minds on the first day that it was the parents," he said.
It was reported later that DNA was found on the clothing JonBenét wore the night of her murder. The DNA belonged to a single, unidentified man who was not found among 1.5 million samples in the FBI's database of convicted violent offenders in 2004. That finding cleared the parents of involvement but didn't reveal the killer.
Determined for answers, John Ramsey wants detectives to give the crime scene evidence and DNA they found to be properly tested by experts such as Moore.
"I'm going to keep pushing, certainly as long as I live, for the right things to be done," Ramsey said.
