JonBenét Ramsey's Father Renews Push for Advanced DNA Testing After Colorado Crime Lab Scandal: 'We Can Get an Answer'

JonBenét Ramsey's father is renewing his plea for advanced DNA testing after a former Colorado Bureau of Investigation analyst pleaded guilty to multiple crimes tied to the mishandling of evidence, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

While John Ramsey does not believe the scandal directly affected his daughter's unsolved murder case, he said it has only strengthened his push to use the latest forensic technology to finally identify her killer.

Former Colorado Bureau of Investigation DNA analyst Yvonne "Missy" Woods pleaded guilty to four felony charges, including cybercrime, perjury, forgery, and attempting to influence a public servant, after prosecutors accused her of manipulating DNA data over the course of her career.

Yvonne, who worked for the CBI for nearly three decades before resigning in 2023, allegedly altered and deleted forensic data in criminal investigations dating back to 2008.

As part of her plea agreement, 100 additional charges were dismissed. Authorities believe she handled more than 10,000 cases, with records allegedly deleted in roughly 10 percent of them.

District Attorney Alexis King said, "Today, Ms. Woods accepted responsibility not only for individual acts of misconduct but for the full scope of criminal conduct that spanned decades."

Yvonne faces up to 16 years in prison when she is sentenced in September.

Although Yvonne was employed by the CBI during the investigation into JonBenét's 1996 murder, John said he has been told the key DNA evidence in his daughter's case was analyzed by an outside laboratory rather than the state agency.

Still, the 82-year-old revealed there are lingering questions about evidence that was never examined.

"We did know that a number of items from the crime scene were sent in for testing, and a number were not tested," John told NewsNation. "We always kind of wondered why. I mean, items that should have been sampled, but they weren't, I don't know whether it was a cost issue or they already found unidentified male DNA, so why go any further?"

For years, John has maintained that unidentified male DNA recovered from the crime scene could hold the key to solving the nearly three-decade-old murder.

He is again urging investigators to use forensic genetic genealogy through a specialized private laboratory rather than relying solely on state resources.

"We've advocated for a year almost that we use forensic genetic genealogy, FGG, which is kind of the latest tool that's out there," he said. "You have to go to an outside lab, but it's got to be one that knows how to do it."

John added: "We've been very insistent that they use one of these outside cutting-edge labs... And I'm convinced we can get an answer."

JonBenét was found dead in the basement of her family's Boulder home on December 26, 1996, one day after Christmas.

Her killing remains one of America's most infamous unsolved murder cases.

Over the years, John has repeatedly criticized investigators for mishandling the probe and has accused the Boulder Police Department of failing to fully utilize advances in DNA technology.

He has even offered to help raise money to fund investigative genetic genealogy testing.