EXPENSIVE homes with manicured lawns line the street that was once the scene of the grisly murder of JonBenet Ramsey, which her half-brother says "exposed the dark underbelly" of beautiful Boulder, Colorado.

The house where the six-year-old beauty pageant queen's body was found on December 26, 1996, is surrounded on all sides by a nearly six-foot-high metal fence.

Twenty-five years later, there's seemingly question fatigue or a code of silence among the neighbors – including those who lived next to the Ramsey family at the time of the murder.

Many neighbors simply closed the door and declined comment when approached by The Sun on Wednesday.

One neighbor, who lives next door to the Ramsey family's former home and was there in 1996, told The Sun he didn't want to talk about it.

Another neighbor across the street said, "I don't have anything to say."

One neighbor closed the door as soon as she heard the name JonBenet.

A couple of homes have "no soliciting" signs on their doors.

Most read in The Sun

"When we moved there, we thought this place is awesome," John Andrew Ramsey, JonBenet's half brother, told The Sun in an exclusive interview.

"It was a hippy town, very laid back. We didn't have any security. We didn't think we would ever need it.

"It's a really idealistic place to live.

"Pretty affluent, well educated, but there’s an underbelly there that’s pretty dark.

"Boulder is 30 square miles surrounded by reality, and we burst that idealistic bubble," he said.

"We were an ordinary family living an ordinary life when this happened, and it scared people that this could happen to them."

'THE KILLER IS STILL ALIVE'

John Andrew told The Sun in a previous interview that his half-sister was killed to fulfill a "fantasy."

"I don't think he's dead. I think it can be solved but will it? I don’t know," he said.

"The killer is a narcissistic, sadistic pedophile who latched on to my dad or my sister for his own fantasy. For some reason, our family slotted into his fantasy."

John Andrew has pushed for DNA testing, which has rapidly evolved over the last three years.

The smallest, most minute sample of DNA has been solving decades-old cold cases across the country since it solved "The Golden State Killer" case in California in 2018.

DNA TESTING

The police department was criticized for his handling of the case in the initial stages after the family was allowed to move the body.

They have since interviewed more than 1,000 people and received more than 21,000 tips.

On Monday, Boulder police said that they have not ruled out using DNA to solve the case.

The department said it has been working with state investigators on “future DNA advancements” as the case progresses.

“As the Department continues to use new technology to enhance the investigation, it is actively reviewing genetic DNA testing processes to see if those can be applied to this case moving forward,” it said.

It comes after high-profile cases such as the Golden State Killer was solved using ancestry and genealogy sites.

It is unclear if this is the tactic that the JonBenet investigation plans to take.

Monday's statement from the police said that there have been nearly 1,000 DNA samples taken already.

DNA helped to clear JonBenet's parents and brother in 2008 but unfortunately came two years after mom Patsy had died of cancer.

Former district attorney Mary Lacy called the family "victims of this crime."

We pay for your stories!

Do you have a story for The US Sun team?

Email us at [email protected] or call 212 416 4552.

Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheSunUS and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunUS

Source: Read Full Article