DENVER, (Reuters) – Colorado authorities yesterday unsealed a grand jury indictment prepared in 1999 against the parents of murdered child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, a document that was never signed by a prosecutor who decided against bringing charges.
The papers show that the grand jury voted to charge John and Patsy Ramsey with child abuse resulting in death and accessory to first-degree murder in the 1996 slaying of their 6-year-old daughter, a crime that has long captivated much of America. Then-Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter declined to sign the indictment or prosecute the Ramseys, citing a lack of evidence. In 2008, another Boulder County prosecutor cleared the couple of any involvement in JonBenet’s murder, which remains unsolved to this day.
Patsy Ramsey reported JonBenet, a child beauty queen, missing early on the morning of December 26, 1996, telling police that she had found a ransom note on the stairs asking $118,000 for her daughter’s return.
