Once Upon a December (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781393794899)

From its very first hours, it was clear that everything about the JonBen t Ramsey case would be different from virtually any investigation those involved had seen before.

JonBen t was reported missing Dec. 26th, 1996, in a frantic 5:52 a.m. 9-1-1 call in which Patsy Ramsey told Boulder police she'd found a ransom note demanding the head-scratching figure of $118,000 for her daughter's safe return. No follow-up call was ever made to actually collect that money.

Instead, JonBen t's lifeless body was discovered early that afternoon in a little-used room of the family's cellar by her father and a family friend, after the lone detective still on the scene suggested they look around to see if they found anything amiss.

JonBen t was discovered with tape across her mouth, a ligature buried deep in the skin of her neck through use of a garrote fashioned from cord and a broken paintbrush taken from her mother's art supplies. Some of the same cord was loosely bound around her right wrist. Not noticed until the autopsy was that she'd also suffered a linear fracture to the right side of her skull, likely the result of a single blow from a blunt object.

Similarly, marks on her body were interpreted by some as having been caused by a stun gun. Other investigators have dismissed the stun gun thesis.

The grand jury investigating the death of JonBen t Ramsey voted to indict John and Patsy Ramsey on charges of child abuse resulting in death but then-District Attorney Alex Hunter refused to sign the indictment and prosecute the case. Unfortunately it looks as though no one will ever be called to answer for the murder of JonBen t Ramsey.