Six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was a celebrity victim mainly because of her unsolved 1996 murder in Boulder, CO, and to a much lesser extent because she was one of those little girls shoved onto stage at a very early age to compete in child beauty pageants. At a time of life when kids should be allowed to be kids, some are tarted up and thrust before the cameras to sink or swim. Third, she became the victim of a truly titanic amount of lurid, tasteless tabloid coverage and speculation.
In December 1996, the Ramseys reported finding a ransom note in their home asking for the odd sum of $118,000 for the child's release. The amount matched a bonus that Mr. Ramsey had recently received. The writer of the note threatened to behead the girl if the Ramsey's went to the police.
Nevertheless, the couple reported the kidnapping, and the child's body soon was found in the family home's basement. She had been garroted to death and also struck on the head.
At first, the parents appeared to be the chief suspects. Then the DNA of an unknown man was found on JonBenet's body, which cleared the parents from suspicion.
As if the case could not get any stranger, in 2006, middle-aged former schoolteacher John Mark Karr, who was being held on child pornography charges, confessed to the Ramsey murder. DNA tests, however, indicated that he was not the killer.
It seems likely that the identity of JonBenet's murderer will never be known.
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