Mother of JonBenet Ramsey Dead at 49

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Mother of JonBenet Ramsey Dead at 49

James Joyner | Saturday, June 24, 2006

Patsy Ramsey, made famous by the murder of her daughter JonBenet, died today at 49.

Patsy Ramsey, who was thrust into the national spotlight by the unsolved 1996 slaying of her daughter, 6-year-old beauty pageant contestant JonBenet, died Saturday following a long battle with ovarian cancer, her lawyer said. She was 49.

Ramsey was diagnosed with the disease in 1993 and suffered a recurrence several years ago, attorney L. Lin Wood said. She died at her father’s home in Roswell, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta, with her husband, John, at her bedside. “It is not unexpected but it is a sad day,” Wood told The Associated Press.

JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of the family’s home in Boulder, Colo., on Dec. 26, 1996. Patsy Ramsey said she found a ransom note on the back staircase demanding $118,000 for the safe return of JonBenet. John Ramsey said he found his daughter’s body in a basement room eight hours later.

Boulder police said early on that Patsy and John Ramsey were under an “umbrella of suspicion” in JonBenet’s death. The Ramseys said an intruder killed their daughter. A grand jury investigation in Boulder ended with no indictments, and no arrests have been made in the case.

In 2003, U.S. District Judge Julie Carnes in Atlanta concluded that the evidence she reviewed suggested an intruder killed JonBenet. That opinion came with the judge’s decision to dismiss a libel and slander lawsuit against the Ramseys by a freelance journalist, who the Ramseys had named as a suspect in their daughter’s murder. The Boulder district attorney at the time said she agreed with Carnes’ declaration. “Hopefully her legacy will not be tied to the false accusation related to the brutal murder of her daughter,” Wood said of Patsy Ramsey Saturday.

I frankly never understood the national fascination with the death of JonBenet Ramsey, whose death I found tragic but no moreso than that of thousands of other children of whom we’ve never heard. Still, it’s a story that gripped the nation for years. That the family had to endure the additional tragedy of being baselessly suspected of their daughter’s murder was especially sad, however.

Gone Hollywood

About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.

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