Why JonBenet Ramsey's death still grips America: A murdered child beauty queen and one of history's most chilling cold cases

It was the murder which tore the veil off the strange world of American child beauty pageants. Six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was found strangled in her basement in Boulder, Colorado on Boxing Day 1996. It was the murder which tore the veil off the strange world of American child beauty pageants - Six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was found strangled in her basement in Boulder, Colorado on Boxing Day 1996 In the aftermath of her death, an ensuing media frenzy emerged with photograph after photograph of JonBenet on-stage wearing make-up, dancing and singing in costumes John and Patsy Ramsey, the parents of JonBenét Ramsey, meet with a small selected group of the local Colorado media after four months of silence in Boulder, Colorado on May 1, 1997. The Ramsey family pictured together in December 1993 The home where six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey was killed in Boulder, Colorado, 1996 A Boulder Police detective sifts through evidence in the days after JonBenet was found dead Whoever wrote the letter goes on to demand that the first $100,000 is paid in $100 bills and the remaining $18,000 in $20 notes. It became quickly apparent large swathes of the public were just as interested in the 'Hollywood star' appearance of JonBenet, as they were in the killer's identity A clear rift between Boulder police and the District Attorney had now begun to open up.