Patsy Ramsey

Patricia Ann Ramsey (née Paugh; December 29, 1956 – June 24, 2006) was an American beauty pageant winner who won the Miss West Virginia pageant at age 20 in 1977. She was best known as the mother of JonBenét Ramsey, a six-year-old child beauty pageant queen who was found dead in her family's home in Boulder, Colorado, on December 26, 1996.

Background

Ramsey was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, the daughter of Nedra Ellen Ann (née Rymer) and Donald Ray Paugh, an engineer and manager at Union Carbide.^[1][2] She graduated from Parkersburg High School in 1975. She attended West Virginia University, where she belonged to the Alpha Xi Delta sorority, and from which she graduated with a B.A. in journalism in 1978.

She won the Miss West Virginia beauty title in 1977. Her sister, Pamela Ellen Paugh, won the Miss West Virginia title at age 24 in 1980.

Patsy was 23 when she married businessman

Her daughter JonBenét disappeared on the morning after Christmas Day 1996. A lengthy ransom note claimed that she had been kidnapped, demanding $118,000 for her return; Patsy reported finding this note at the foot of the stairs. Seven hours after Patsy contacted authorities, JonBenét's body was found in an isolated area of the Ramseys' basement. She had been killed by strangulation and a blow to the head. After the homicide of JonBenét was discovered, Boulder law enforcement officials declared that Patsy and her husband were "under an umbrella of suspicion"^[4] because of their possible involvement in the crime. The couple spent the next 10 years defending themselves against the allegations by insisting that an intruder killed their daughter.

A grand jury voted in 1999 to indict the parents of six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey on charges of child abuse resulting in death, but Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter did not sign the indictment.^{[citation needed]} Multiple sources, including members of the grand jury, have confirmed to the Daily Camera that Hunter refused to sign the indictment because he did not think there was sufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.^[5]

At around the same time, Lou Smit, a homicide detective who had been brought in to solve the case, opined that the Ramseys had been unfairly targeted, and that an intruder was likely responsible for the murder and its staging.^[6][7]

On July 9, 2008—nearly 12 years after their daughter's death and two years after Patsy's death—the Boulder District Attorney cleared John Ramsey and his late wife of any wrongdoing in their daughter's death. The decision was based on new DNA evidence that was collected from JonBenét's clothing, which belonged to an unidentified male not part of the family. This particular type of DNA analysis did not exist at the time of the killing.^[8] Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy said new DNA tests point to an "unexplained third party" as possibly responsible for the killing. Modern "touch DNA" suggests that a male of Hispanic origin (per updates on DNA and DNA found under JonBenét's fingernails two weeks after the murder, which Hunter had access to) left traces on two separate clothing articles: the undergarment panties and leggings. The official exoneration was done against normal practice, and the Boulder police have still not cleared them. (Mark Beckner, retired Boulder Chief of Police, has claimed that Mary Lacy had always strongly believed that a mother could not possibly be responsible for the death of her daughter in that fashion (and so sought to exonerate Ramsey), and that the trace DNA found on JonBenét's underwear (believed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to be either sweat or saliva) was in such minute quantities (nanograms) that it could have come from the clothing's manufacturing process.)^[9]

In October 2016, new forensic analysis with more refined technique revealed that the original DNA deposits contain genetic markers from two persons other than the victim herself. They have never been identified through any government databases.^{[10][unreliable source?]}

Defamation lawsuits

Several

Patsy Ramsey was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer in 1993, aged 36. After treatment, she was in remission for nine years until a recurrence in 2002.[16]

Patsy Ramsey died from ovarian cancer at age 49 on June 24, 2006. She died at her father's house with her husband by her side.^[17] Ramsey is buried at St. James Episcopal Cemetery in Marietta, Georgia, next to JonBenét.

In popular culture

Ramsey was portrayed by

She was portrayed in the 2001 South Park episode, "Butters' Very Own Episode". The episode strongly implied that Patsy Ramsey and her husband were responsible for the death of JonBenét. In a 2011 interview, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone stated that they regretted how the Ramseys were portrayed in the episode.^[18]

References

External links

• Evidence voluminous but tricky
• Patsy Ramsey, JonBenet's mother, dies
• Police: Ramseys remain under 'umbrella of suspicion'
• Patsy Ramsey at Find a Grave