Mother of Slain JonBenet Ramsey Dies
By Associated Press
33 minutes ago
ATLANTA - Patsy Ramsey, whose 6-year-old daughter JonBenet's 1996 slaying has never been solved, died Saturday of cancer, her lawyer said. She was 49.
Ramsey had been battling ovarian cancer since 1993 and suffered a recurrence three years ago, attorney L. Lin Wood said. Her husband, John, was with her at the time of her death.
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.
The Ramseys said an intruder killed their daughter but a cloud of suspicion hung over the couple. The district attorney and a federal judge in Colorado have said it is likelier that an intruder was responsible.
JonBenet's death became fodder for tabloids and the subject of books.
"I think people realize now that this family was very much victims of that murder and have suffered greatly because of it in terms of the false accusations made against them," Wood told CNN Saturday.
Patsy Ramsey said she found a ransom note on the back staircase of the family's home demanding $118,000 for the safe return of JonBenet. John Ramsey said he found his daughter's body in a basement room, wrapped in a white blanket eight hours later.
An autopsy concluded JonBenet suffered a skull fracture, and was strangled and beaten.
The couple wrote a book, "The Death of Innocence," which was published in 2000.
They later left Colorado and had residences in Atlanta and in Michigan, where John Ramsey unsuccessfully ran for a state House seat in 2004. The Ramseys discussed their daughter's death during the campaign.
"We can't just hold our breath and hope the killer will be found and then go on with our lives," Patsy Ramsey said in 2004. "We have to move ahead now. We can't let evil win."
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