JonBenét Ramsey Case Rocked as Forensic Analyst Who May Have Worked Toddler Beauty Queen's Murder Probe Pleads Guilty to Mishandling DNA Evidence
Yvonne 'Missy' Woods now faces 16 years behind bars.
June 26 2026, Published 2:45 p.m. ET
A former state forensic scientist has pleaded guilty to four felony counts of accusations she manipulated DNA data over the years, RadarOnline.com can reveal, and now the validity of hundreds of criminal cases she handled has come into question.
Yvonne 'Missy' Woods, who spent nearly 30 years analyzing DNA evidence for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, may have worked on toddler beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey's unsolved murder, and her grieving father, John, has been left sick over the possibility his dead daughter's case may have been botched.
Yvonne 'Missy' Woods pled guilty after being accused of manipulating DNA data.
Yvonne 'Missy' Woods' DNA Betrayal Explained
Earlier this week, Woods entered a guilty plea to committing a cybercrime and perjury, as well as attempting to influence a public servant and forgery. As part of the plea agreement, 100 other counts were dismissed.
According to authorities, Woods, who resigned from her position in 2023, altered data to conceal tampering and also deleted data. Woods is believed to have worked on more than 10,000 cases with the CBI, with the disgraced analyst believed to have deleted information in about 10 percent of those cases.
"Today, Ms. Woods accepted responsibility not only for individual acts of misconduct but for the full scope of criminal conduct that spanned decades," District Attorney Alexis King responded following the plea agreement. "Despite Colorado law allowing for these offenses to be probation eligible, this disposition guarantees a prison sentence and eliminates any possibility of a community-based sentence."
The investigation into Woods' dirty deeds kicked off in 2023 after an intern at the CBI discovered missing information in a case that she had handled in 2018.
JonBenét Ramsey's Father Speaks Out
JonBenét Ramsey's father, John, was left concerned over his own daughter's case following the plea.
Woods now faces up to 16 years behind bars when she's sentenced in September. While her bad behavior dates back to 2008, Woods was a member of the CBI forensic team during the 1996 murder probe of JonBenét. There is currently no evidence she messed around with the little girl's DNA; however, the toddler's father has been rocked by the possibility.
"We did know that a number of items from the crime scene were sent in for testing, and a number were not tested," John explained in an interview with 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?"
It was previously revealed that JonBenét's primary DNA was not handled by the CBI, but by an outside lab.
The 6-year-old was found dead in her parents' basement one day after Christmas in 1996, and John revealed he and his family are still fighting to discover who was behind the grisly crime.
The Search For the Killer Continues
John Ramsey and his wife, Patsy, found their daughter death in their basement in 1996.
"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 in the new interview. You have to go to an outside lab, but it’s got to be one that knows how to do it."
Earlier this year, the man who had searched for DNA evidence in the early stages of the case, forensic pathologist Dr. Henry Lee, died at 87. JonBenét's mother, Patsy, also died of ovarian cancer in 2006, never learning who was responsible for her daughter's death.
Throughout the years, John has accused the Boulder Police Department of fumbling the investigation.
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JonBenét Ramsey's case remains unsolved.
Investigators have also been accused of not turning over DNA evidence to an advanced genealogy firm to hopefully find the murderer. John had previously offered to fundraise to cover the cost of investigative genetic genealogy.
The search for the killer, however, has continued. Former Alabama deputy sheriff and patrol officer turned detective, Kenny Beck, has been brought on to give the case a fresh look.
