JonBenét Patricia Ramsey was born in Atlanta, Georgia on August 6th, 1990. She was murdered in her home December 25, 1996 and her body was found December 26, 1996, in the basement of their 4-story home, located in Boulder, Colorado. JonBenét was the daughter of John and Patsy Ramsey. She was an American childhood beauty queen. Media coverage of the case has often focused on JonBenét's participation in child beauty pageants, her parents' affluence and the unusual evidence in the case. Reports have also questioned the police's overall handling of the case. Several defamation suits have been filed against several media organizations by Ramsey family members and their friends over reporting of the murder.
JonBenét’s murder – particularly as the days went by and no arrests were forthcoming – quickly became a national obsession, featured day after day on network news, television tabloid programs, talk radio, newspapers and magazines. Her image flitted across television screens numerous times, often showing her in a fancy red cowgirl outfit, singing "I want to be a cowboy sweetheart," or dancing across the stage in a glittering Las Vegas showgirl outfit, complete with heavy makeup. Her unusual first name became so well known that like Cher and Madonna she no longer had need of a last name.
The public’s shock at the murder soon began to share equal time with its growing hate at the Boulder police’s investigation, a hate fed by a steady stream of leaks from the Boulder County District Attorney's office about the inept police investigation being conducted. For one thing it became known that the police had badly botched the initial investigation by failing to seal off the crime scene.