162.81.247.4: Fixed JonBenét Death date to December 25, 1996

2025-07-01T06:35:57Z

Fixed JonBenét Death date to December 25, 1996

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	'''Patricia Ann Ramsey''' ({{née}} '''Paugh'''; December 29, 1956 – June 24, 2006) was an American beauty pageant winner who was the mother of [[Killing of JonBenét Ramsey\|JonBenét Ramsey]], a six-year-old [[child beauty pageant]] queen who was found murdered in her family's home in [[Boulder, Colorado]], on December 26, 1996.		'''Patricia Ann Ramsey''' ({{née}} '''Paugh'''; December 29, 1956 – June 24, 2006) was an American beauty pageant winner who was the mother of [[Killing of JonBenét Ramsey\|JonBenét Ramsey]], a six-year-old [[child beauty pageant]] queen who was found murdered in her family's home in [[Boulder, Colorado]], on December 25, 1996.

	==Background==		==Background==

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{{Short description|American beauty pageant winner (1956–2006)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Patsy Ramsey
| image = Patsy Ramsey.jpeg
| caption = Patsy Ramsey with her daughter [[JonBenét Ramsey|JonBenét]]
| birth_name = Patricia Ann Paugh
| birth_date = {{birth date|1956|12|29|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Parkersburg, West Virginia]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2006|6|24|1956|12|29|mf=y}}
| death_place = [[Roswell, Georgia]], U.S.
| resting_place = [[St. James Episcopal Cemetery]]<br />[[Marietta, Georgia]], U.S.
| alma_mater = [[West Virginia University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| spouse = {{Marriage|[[John Bennett Ramsey]]|1980}}
| children = 2; including [[Killing of JonBenét Ramsey|JonBenét]]
}}

'''Patricia Ann Ramsey''' ({{née}} '''Paugh'''; December 29, 1956 – June 24, 2006) was an American beauty pageant winner who was the mother of [[Killing of JonBenét Ramsey|JonBenét Ramsey]], a six-year-old [[child beauty pageant]] queen who was found murdered 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]].<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20123391,00.html "Mystery Couple" by Richard Jerome], ''People Magazine''</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wargs.com/other/ramsey.html|title=Ancestry of JonBenet Ramsey}}</ref> 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 [[Bachelor of Arts|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 [[John Bennett Ramsey|John Ramsey]] on November 5, 1980. He had three children from his first marriage to Lucinda Pasch from 1966 to 1978, which had ended in divorce.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/182055-who-is-john-ramseys-first-wife-lucinda-pasch-keeps-a-low-profile|title = Who is John Ramsey's First Wife? Lucinda Pasch Keeps a Low Profile| date=18 September 2016 }}</ref> Patsy and John's son, Burke Ramsey, was born on January 27, 1987. She gave birth to their second child, daughter JonBenét, on August 6, 1990, in [[Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta]]. The family moved to [[Boulder, Colorado]] in 1991 for her husband's business. Starting from when her daughter was young, Patsy entered her in children's beauty contests, and she won some titles before the age of six.

==JonBenét's death==
{{Main article|Killing of JonBenét Ramsey}}
On the morning after Christmas Day 1996, Patsy telephoned the police at 5:52 a.m. [[Mountain Time Zone|MST]],<ref name="DC Tragic case">{{cite news |author=Brennan |first=Charlie |date=January 27, 2013 |title=JonBenet Ramsey's death a tragic, bizarre case from the start |newspaper=Daily Camera |url=http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_22446420/jonbenet-ramsey-case-history-grand-jury |url-status=live |access-date=September 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404225017/http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_22446420/jonbenet-ramsey-case-history-grand-jury |archive-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref> stating that JonBenét was missing and that a lengthy ransom note had been left claiming that she had been kidnapped, demanding $118,000 for her return; 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"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9712/05/ramsey.presser/|title=Police: Ramseys remain under 'umbrella of suspicion' |date= Dec 5, 1997|publisher= CNN}}</ref> 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 on charges of child abuse resulting in death, but Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter did not sign the indictment.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}} 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.<ref>"[http://www.denverpost.com/2013/01/27/boulder-da-refused-to-sign-indictment-of-ramseys/ Boulder DA refused to sign indictment of Ramseys]". ''The Denver Post'', January 27, 2013.</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/14/us/14smit.html|title = Lou Smit, Detective in JonBenet Ramsey Case, is Dead at 75|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 14 August 2010|last1 = Taha|first1 = Nadia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2000/03/13/jonbenet-ramsey-killed-intruder-lou-smit/|title = Ex-cop: JonBenét killed by intruder|date = 13 March 2000}}</ref>

On July 9, 2008—nearly 12 years after their daughter's death and two years after Patsy's death—Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy issued a letter stating that John Ramsey and his late wife should no longer be considered suspects 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.<ref name="ramseyscleared">{{cite news |title = Exclusive: JonBenet's father grateful after being cleared by DNA |publisher = Colorado 9 News |date = 2008-07-09 |url = https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/exclusive-jonbenets-father-grateful-after-being-cleared-by-dna/73-342367613 |access-date = 2019-09-06 }}</ref> 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, to which Hunter had access) 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.)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://extras.denverpost.com/jonbenetAMA.html|title=I am former Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner. I worked in law enforcement for 36 years, and headed the investigation into the JonBenet Ramsey murder. AMAA. • /r/UnresolvedMysteries|website=reddit|access-date=2016-09-23}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://extras.denverpost.com/jonbenetAMA.html|title=I am former Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner. I worked in law enforcement for 36 years, and headed the investigation into the JonBenet Ramsey murder. AMAA. • /r/UnresolvedMysteries|website=reddit|access-date=2016-09-23}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=April 2023}}

==Defamation lawsuits==
Several [[defamation]] lawsuits have proceeded through the courts since JonBenét's death. [[L. Lin Wood|Lin Wood]] was the plaintiff's lead attorney for John and Patsy Ramsey and for their son, Burke, and has prosecuted defamation claims on their behalf against [[St. Martin's Press]], [[Time, Inc.]], [[Fox News|The Fox News Channel]], [[American Media, Inc.]], ''[[Star (magazine)|Star]]'', ''[[The Globe (tabloid)|The Globe]]'', [[Court TV]] and ''[[The New York Post]]''.<ref>Erin Moriarty. [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jonbenet-dna-rules-out-parents/ "JonBenét: DNA Rules Out Parents,"] ''CBS'', March 26, 2005.</ref><ref>Vanessa Miller. [http://www.coloradodaily.com/ci_13112748#axzz1aXlKkOhr "Boulder police take back Ramsey case,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923205547/http://www.coloradodaily.com/ci_13112748#axzz1aXlKkOhr |date=2015-09-23 }} ''Colorado Daily'', February 2, 2009.</ref><ref>David Kohn. [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/searching-the-interrogation-tapes/ "Searching: The Interrogation Tapes,"] ''CBS'', February 11, 2009</ref> John and Patsy Ramsey were also sued in two separate defamation lawsuits arising from the publication of their book, ''The Death of Innocence'', brought by two individuals named in the book as having been investigated by Boulder police as suspects in JonBenét's death. The Ramseys were defended in those lawsuits by Lin Wood and three other Atlanta attorneys, James C. Rawls, Eric P. Schroeder, and S. Derek Bauer, who obtained dismissal of both lawsuits. In an in-depth decision, U.S. District Court Judge Julie Carnes ruled that "abundant evidence" in the homicide case pointed to an intruder having committed the crime, while "virtually no evidence" implicated the Ramseys.<ref>{{cite web|author=R. Robin McDonald All Articles |url=http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202429072171&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1 |title=Northern District of Georgia's New Chief Judge Reflects on Her Career |publisher=Law.com |date=2009-03-16 |access-date=2011-06-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/253/1323/2567726/|title = Wolf v. Ramsey, 253 F. Supp. 2d 1323 (N.D. Ga. 2003)}}</ref>

==Illness and death==
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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.denverpost.com/2006/07/01/patsy-ramsey-her-life-after-jonbent/|title=Patsy Ramsey: Her life after JonBenét |work= The Denver Post|date=July 2006 |access-date=2016-12-22}}</ref> She died at her father's house on June 24, 2006 with her husband by her side, aged 49.<ref name="acj060624">{{cite news |last1=Stirgus |first1=Eric |title=Patsy Ramsey Obituary |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/atlanta/obituary.aspx?pid=18222889 |access-date=January 5, 2019 |work=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |publisher=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution vis Legacy.com |date=June 25, 2006 |location=[[Roswell, Georgia]] |quote=Amid the questions, Patsy Ramsey faced another challenge: ovarian cancer. Before dawn Saturday, Patsy, 49, died in her father's Roswell home, said the family's longtime attorney, Lin Wood. Her husband, John, was by her side, Wood said.}}</ref> Ramsey is buried at [[St. James Episcopal Cemetery]] in [[Marietta, Georgia]], next to JonBenét.

==In popular culture==
Ramsey has been portrayed by [[Marg Helgenberger]] in the [[miniseries]] ''[[Perfect Murder, Perfect Town]]'' (2000); by [[Judi Evans]] in the TV movie ''[[Getting Away with Murder: The JonBenet Ramsey Story]]'' (2000); by Julia Campbell in Lifetime's ''Who Killed Jonbenet'' (2016) and [[Melissa McCarthy]] in an upcoming untitled [[Paramount+]] limited series.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://ew.com/melissa-mccarthy-clive-owen-playing-jonbenet-ramsey-parents-series-8707160 | title=Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen are playing JonBenét Ramsey's parents in new series | magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] }}</ref>

Ramsey was portrayed by [[Alex Borstein]], opposite [[Michael McDonald (comedian)|Michael McDonald]] as her husband, in two ''[[MADtv]]'' sketches; [[Jane Lynch]] voiced her in the ''[[Family Guy]]'' episode, "[[Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows]]".

She was portrayed in the 2001 ''[[South Park]]'' episode, "[[Butters' Very Own Episode]]". The episode strongly implied that Patsy 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.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/magazine/talk-trey-parker-and-matt-stone-of-south-park.html | work=The New York Times Magazine | first=Andrew | last=Goldman | title=The Fogies of 'South Park' | date=September 23, 2011}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Colorado|Biography}}
*[https://extras.denverpost.com/news/ram1014k.htm Evidence voluminous but tricky]
*[http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/24/ramsey.death/ Patsy Ramsey, JonBenet's mother, dies]
*[http://www.cnn.com/US/9712/05/ramsey.presser/ Police: Ramseys remain under 'umbrella of suspicion']
*{{Find a Grave|14714870}}

{{West Virginia pageant winners}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsey, Patsy}}
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:American Episcopalians]]
[[Category:Beauty pageant contestants from West Virginia]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Deaths from ovarian cancer in the United States]]
[[Category:Killing of JonBenét Ramsey]]
[[Category:Miss America 1970s delegates]]
[[Category:Parkersburg High School alumni]]
[[Category:People from Atlanta]]
[[Category:People from Boulder, Colorado]]
[[Category:People from Gilbert, West Virginia]]
[[Category:People from Parkersburg, West Virginia]]
[[Category:West Virginia University alumni]]

Patsy Ramsey - Revision history

162.81.247.4: Fixed JonBenét Death date to December 25, 1996

imported>Dancing Hippos: /* Illness and death */