According to 9News, on February 13 Boulder Police Chief Tom Koby and District Attorney Alex Hunter held a news conference updating the public on the case, and they announced the creation of a task force that included leading members from O.J. Simpson’s defense team from his murder trial two years prior. A month later, the police cleared John Ramsey of writing the ransom note but were still inconclusive on his wife. CNN reported the police searched the family’s summer home in Charlevoix, Michigan, for the second time, looking for potential “‘unrehearsed’ writing samples” from Patsy Ramsey.

On Friday, April 18, Hunter named both John and Patsy as “the focus of the investigation” (via the Denver Post). The New York Times reported in May the investigation had cost the police and DA upwards of $300,000, and the Ramseys had hired multiple lawyers, private investigators, a PR spokesperson, and a handwriting analyst. On April 30, Boulder Police conducted their “long-awaited ‘formal interviews’” with the Ramseys for over eight hours. The next day, the Ramseys broke their four-month silence and took part in another nationally televised interview with CNN. In a subsequent interview with local media outlets including 9News, John Ramsey said, “Let me address very directly, I did not kill my daughter JonBenét … JonBenét and I had a very close relationship, I will miss her dearly for the rest of my life.”

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN’s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).