Nearly three decades after the killing of six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey shocked the world, her older brother Burke has spoken publicly again for the first time in ten years. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail published in early November 2026, the 39-year-old software engineer called on investigators to concentrate on what he describes as the single most important piece of evidence still available: unidentified male DNA recovered from his sister’s body.

Burke was nine years old on the day after Christmas in 1996 when the family’s life in Boulder, Colorado, was permanently altered. JonBenét was reported missing early on the morning of December 26 after her mother, Patsy Ramsey, found a lengthy handwritten ransom note demanding $118,000. Hours later, her father, John Ramsey, discovered the child’s body in a basement wine cellar. She had suffered a severe skull fracture and had been strangled with a cord that had been тιԍнтened using a broken paintbrush handle from the home.

From the earliest hours of the investigation, attention focused heavily on the Ramsey family. They were the only people known to be inside the large house that night, and the unusual ransom note—written on paper and with a pen from inside the home—fueled intense suspicion. Over the years that followed, public speculation, media coverage, and online theories frequently pointed toward the parents or toward Burke himself. The family consistently denied any involvement.

In 2008, Boulder authorities formally cleared John, Patsy, and Burke after DNA testing showed that genetic material found on JonBenét’s underwear and under her fingernails did not match any of them. That DNA profile has been attributed to an unknown male and has never been linked to a known individual, despite advances in forensic science.

In the new interview, Burke returned repeatedly to this point. “We need to find that match. It’s the best evidence we have,” he said. “It was underneath her fingernails and it didn’t match any of us. It’s probably the person who did it… and it’s the best chance we have to solve this.” He urged police to send the remaining samples to additional laboratories and to keep testing with the latest techniques, including genetic genealogy methods that have resolved other long-standing cold cases. “Find the match. That will go a long way to bringing justice. It’s been 30 years and enough is enough,” he added.

Burke was emphatic in rejecting the long-standing cloud of suspicion that has hung over his family. “The DNA says we didn’t do it. I know none of my family did it,” he stated. Pointing to himself, he continued, “I didn’t do it… There was this energy looking at the family, but the DNA is sitting right there.” He described himself as willing to cooperate fully with investigators and said he has already shared everything he knows.

Beyond the forensic issues, Burke offered a more personal portrait of his sister. He pushed back against the public image of JonBenét as primarily a child pageant performer, recalling ordinary childhood moments such as sliding down hills on cardboard boxes and playing in water. “Everyone focuses on the pageants and stuff. But that was only a small part of JonBenét’s life,” he said. “To me, she was just a normal sister.”

Burke now lives a deliberately quiet life in northern Michigan, working from home after earning a degree in computer and information technology. He acknowledged that renewed media attention—sparked in part by a new Diane Sawyer investigation and an upcoming Netflix drama series—brings back painful memories. Still, he said he wants the case solved and is prepared to endure the publicity if it helps produce answers.

Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer in 2006 at the age of 49. John Ramsey, now in his early 80s, has remarried. Burke noted that the years of scrutiny have also been difficult for his father but said he is “doing OK.”

As the 30th anniversary of the crime approaches, the murder of JonBenét Ramsey remains one of the most widely discussed unsolved cases in modern American history. Burke’s decision to speak again places the unidentified DNA at the center of the conversation and renews pressure on authorities to apply the full power of current forensic technology to the evidence that has sat, in his words, “right there” for nearly three decades.