Gilgo Beach DNA ruling gives JonBenét Ramsey’s dad new hope

(NewsNation) — The father of JonBenét Ramsey believes that using advanced DNA testing, like in the Gilgo Beach murder case, will solve the murder of his then-6-year-old daughter.

John Ramsey told “Banfield” on Wednesday he is meeting with police in the coming days after a New York judge allowed the prosecution to use evidence gathered from old, highly degraded DNA through genome sequencing by California lab Astrea Forensics.

“It’s a huge advance, and I believe it’s the way our case will be solved.” There’s a “really good chance (it) could be solved if it’s implemented,” Ramsey said.

“I learned recently that, yes, you can get this data from hair samples. We have several hair samples from JonBenét ‘s crime scene that weren’t identified.”

The body of JonBenét, a child beauty pageant contestant, was found in the basement of her family’s home Dec. 26, 1996. She had been strangled.

Several hours earlier, Patsy Ramsey had called 911 to report that her daughter was missing and a ransom note had been left behind. The note demanded that a $118,000 ransom be delivered in exchange for the 6-year-old.

To date, no one has been prosecuted in the case. In 2008, a prosecutor officially ruled out JonBenét’s family as suspects, based on DNA evidence.

Boulder police found DNA evidence of an unidentified male on JonBenét’s body, and years later found DNA from the same male on her tights.

“I have another meeting set up with the chief of police. I met with them in January. I’ve got another meeting in a week or so, and that’s my message: We’ve got to use this technique. I firmly believe that it’ll solve the case,” Ramsey added.