The JonBenet Ramsey house and parents have had divergent paths since the shocking 1996 murder of the 6-year-old girl. The former family house in Boulder has been vacant for years. John and Patsy Ramsey’s fortune evaporated in the wake of the years-long investigation into JonBenet’s murder–and the subsequent legal defense the couple had to mount for their own benefit.
The Ramsey family house, located at 749 15th Street in Boulder, has been largely vacant since around 2008. It was purchased four years earlier, by Tim and Carol Milner, a California couple with ties to the area. Carol told Westword in 2014 that she and her husband had intended to live in what had become known as the JonBenet Ramsey house full-time, but projects kept pulling them back to California, and they were unable to make it work. So, in 2008, they put the house up for sale, asking $2.3 million. The following year, they lowered the price to $1.985 million–still no takers. Here’s a Google Maps street view of the property, which, thanks in part to the large, mature trees shrouding the house, looks calm–peaceful, even. The photo was taken in July of 2012; you can see the “For Sale” sign still up in the front yard:
“As a Christian, we have a different view on death,” Carol told Westword. “Death is not the last word, and God is not bound by death. I just don’t believe it’s in his character to abandon us, and that effects my ability to look at this house and see all the beautiful things about it.”
Though photos of the inside of the JonBenet Ramsey house are almost impossible to find, the Westword feature has several: you can check it out here. And it’s become something of a magnet for true crime buffs, who frequently take photos of the outside as they pass through town.
casually stalking the JonBenét Ramsey
house with heather. #scared pic.twitter.com/YqUpizD3ox— Kassie Mirabal (@kassiemirabal) June 15, 2013
Today view of the house where JonBenet Ramsey was murdered in '96. The latest twist in the unsolved case… on @GMA. pic.twitter.com/XU4MJyIPnh
— Clayton Sandell (@Clayton_Sandell) October 25, 2013
JonBenet Ramsey's Boulder home. One of the most intriguing crime stories to this day. pic.twitter.com/O67J3ylKaR
— Genesis Samayoa (@GenesisSamayoa) December 2, 2013
Drove by the Jonbenet Ramsey house today. #forsale #Boulder #RIP pic.twitter.com/9Wt3vFImAp
— Stephanie Beshell (@Stepbunnyyy) March 17, 2014
Colorado house where JonBenet Ramsey was murdered is listed for $2million – http://t.co/CE2XHaBd5U pic.twitter.com/7UuIBoa1se
— News-All-The-Time (@mybabyace) March 18, 2014
As a #TrueCrime buff, I couldn't leave #BoulderCO without driving by the JonBenet Ramsey house. pic.twitter.com/eGMs5uoem9
— Mark S. Sardella (@markssardella) March 4, 2015
Unfortunately, the story of JonBenet Ramsey’s parents brings further heartbreak. JonBenet’s mother, Patsy Ramsey, died of ovarian cancer in 2006. She’s buried next to JonBenet at St. James Episcopal Cemetery in Marietta GA. At the time of her death, she and her husband John were still considered suspects by investigators of JonBenet’s murder. It wasn’t until two years after Patsy’s death that the Boulder District Attorney cleared the Ramseys of all suspicion, in a public letter that tried to both explain how new DNA analysis suggested a third party was responsible–and to apologize.
Patricia Ann Paugh after winning the Miss West Virginia crown in 1977. She would marry John Ramsey three years later.
As for John, he’s struggled some in the ensuing years. In 2015 he told People that his family had “financial problems” following the murder, and that the Ramseys “never again set foot in their Boulder home.” And he said it was especially difficult to shield his son Burke, now 28, from the attention that the murder brought to the family. When friends would ask what they could do to help, he used to tell them “‘Next time you go in the supermarket, call the manager over when you see our child’s photo on the front cover, and ask him to remove it.’”
In 2011, though, John Ramsey briefly made headlines for a different reason: he remarried. Ramsey “finally found happiness again,” according to a short piece by Splash News. Ramsey, then 67, married 53-year-old fashion designer Jan Rosseaux in a summer ceremony in Charlevoix, Michigan. The two had dated for years, and had a two-year engagement. 70 guests attended the wedding, including all of John’s adult children.
Lifetime’s Who Killed JonBenet? begins airing November 5th.
JonBenet 2016: Has the case been solved? New TV specials reexamine case on two-decade anniversary
(Photo credits: JonBenet Ramsey house and parents via Google Maps, Twitter)
