JonBenét Ramsey's house

Murder House in Boulder, Colorado

This is the house where JonBenét Ramsey was murdered.

It is located at 749 15th Street in Boulder, Colorado.

The original address was 755 15th Street. In June 2001, the new owners changed the house number to 749.

At 5:52 a.m. on December 26th, 1996, six-year-old JonBenét was reported missing from this house after her mother, Patsy Ramsey, discovered a ransom note demanding $118,000 for her return.

The police arrived within five minutes. Although they performed a cursory search of the house, they failed to check a wine cellar in the basement.

Jeremy Drexler took this photograph of the main entrance on 15th Street. The large, 7,240-square-foot Tudor-style house was built in 1927. At the time of the murder, it had more than 100 windows and exterior doors. There were no signs of forced entry.

For the next few hours, investigators waited at the home, expecting to receive further instructions from the kidnappers. However, nobody made any attempt to contact the family.

During this seven-hour period, only JonBenét's bedroom was cordoned off. Friends and family members were also allowed to visit the house to support the Ramseys.

Consequently, potential evidence at several parts of the crime scene was severely contaminated.

Ramsey family — That night, there were only four people in the house: John Ramsey (53), his wife, Patsy (39), and their two children, JonBenét (6) and Burke (9).

At 1 p.m., a detective asked JonBenét's father, John Ramsey, and John's friend, Fleet White, to search the house for anything that might seem out of place. During a check of the basement, they opened the wine cellar and found JonBenét's body.

The six-year-old had been strangled to death with a garrote. She had also suffered an 8.5-inch fracture to her skull.

Sexual assault couldn't be ruled out due to potential signs of slight vaginal trauma, but there were no signs of rape.

JonBenet Ramsey basement layout — This 3D model shows the layout of the Ramsey family's basement. The red sphere highlights the general location of JonBenét's body. At the time of the murder, there was a broken window in one of the basement rooms. John told investigators that he broke the window months prior after he accidentally locked himself out of the house. Although the window was touted as a potential entry point for an intruder, the presence of multiple undisturbed cobwebs on the window grate and frame made the theory less likely.

When John saw his daughter's body, he picked her up and quickly ran upstairs. This meant that yet another crucial part of the crime scene was contaminated.

Wine cellar — JonBenét was found in this old, dirty wine cellar. Her killer had covered her mouth with duct tape and placed a white blanket over her torso. A nylon cord was found around her neck and wrists. During the initial search, the police decided not to open the door to this room because it had a safety latch at the top. At the time, they were looking for the kidnapper's exit route. Upon seeing the latch, they reasoned that the kidnapper couldn't have closed the door and secured it from inside. As a result, they skipped the cellar and continued their search elsewhere.

The garrote was a nylon cord that had been tightened by the broken handle of a paintbrush. Experts have argued that the paintbrush, which was likely taken from Patsy's art supplies, may have been used to sexually assault the victim.

Crime Scene — The knots on the nylon cord were determined to be basic knots that didn't require any special skills or knowledge. The latch on the wine cellar door was likely installed in the past to prevent children from entering the room.

The autopsy revealed that the victim had likely eaten a "yellow to light green-tan apparent vegetable or fruit material, which may represent fragments of pineapple." It was estimated that she had eaten it a few hours before her death.

The Ramseys did not recall putting the bowl on the table or feeding their daughter pineapple.

According to their timeline, they left a friend's Christmas dinner party at approximately 8:30 p.m. on December 25th. After leaving the party, they paid a quick visit to another friend's house to drop off some Christmas presents.

They finally arrived home at around 9:15 p.m. and went straight to bed. By that time, JonBenét had already fallen asleep, so John carried her up to her bedroom.

1996 — These days, the property is fenced off and obscured by trees. However, at the time of the killing, it was much more open.

JonBenét's murder immediately drew national attention, as she was a child beauty pageant contestant who came from a wealthy family. The ransom note, the location of the body, and inconsistencies in the family's stories fueled widespread media speculation.

The initial investigation has also been widely criticized, as the Boulder police failed to secure the crime scene.

Crime stats in Boulder 1996 — An FBI Crime Index report shows that JonBenét was the only murder in Boulder in 1996.

Critics have pointed out that the small department had very little experience with homicide cases.

Staircase — Patsy said that she found the ransom note on the bottom steps of this spiral staircase. The note was two and a half pages long. The writer claimed that they were part of "a group of individuals that represent a small foreign faction." The ransom figure was $118,000, which was "nearly identical" to the work bonus that John had received 10 months prior ($118,117.50). The note had been written using a pen and notepad that were inside the Ramsey home.

For years, suspicion fell on members of the Ramsey family, but they were never formally charged.

In October 1999, a grand jury voted to charge the Ramseys with "placing a child at risk in a way that led to her death." Despite this, the Boulder County District Attorney at the time, Alex Hunter, opted not to press charges, as he felt there wasn't sufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

In 2008, Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy formally apologized to the family and exonerated them, stating that touch DNA found on the victim's clothing pointed to an unknown male. However, law enforcement officials and forensic experts have criticized Lacy's decision to exonerate the Ramseys based on touch DNA alone.

Aerial map — This is an aerial map of the area. There is a narrow and poorly lit alley at the back that provides access to the rear of the house. Credit: Google Maps.

The house has changed hands several times since the killing. The Ramseys sold it in 1998, and subsequent owners have renovated the property.

Alley — The alley runs at the back of the house. It has two entrances. One is on Cascade Avenue, while the other is on Baseline Road. Credit: Google Maps.

The current owners purchased the property for $1,050,000 in July 2004. In March 2023, they listed it for sale at $6.95 million. Despite dropping the price by $701,000, it failed to sell, and they eventually took it off the market.

The wine cellar where JonBenét's body was found has been walled off and is no longer accessible.

In June 2006, Patsy died of cancer at the age of 49.

Despite multiple investigations, grand jury proceedings, and an endless stream of theories, the murder has never been solved.

As of 2025, it remains an active cold case.

Address

The address and the GPS coordinates for this location are as follows:

Address

749 15th Street, Boulder, Colorado, CO 80302, USA

Map

To view directions on how to get there, you can use the Google Maps shortcut below:

Google Maps

GPS coordinates

The latitude and longitude coordinates for the house are:

40.001151, -105.274044

Details about the general area

Boulder is approximately 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Denver. The house lies to the southeast of a neighborhood called University Hill (The Hill). It is relatively close to Chautauqua Park.