Prosecutors debriefed Gov. Owens Monday night in Boulder about the decision not to indict anyone in the Ramsey case

October 19, 1999
Web posted at: 2:54 a.m. EDT (0654 GMT)

DENVER (CNN) -- Colorado's governor and the district attorney investigating the killing of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey met for four hours Monday to discuss whether the state should launch a new probe into the girl's death.

Gov. Bill Owens, state Attorney General Ken Salazar and others met with Boulder County prosecutor Alex Hunter at the state Capitol on Monday evening. Owens said a decision has not yet been made on a possible new investigation.

"It'll be some time," he told reporters after the session.

Owens ordered a task force to take a second look at the case after a grand jury in Boulder failed to bring charges last week following a 13-month investigation. Neither side would comment before the session began.

There is no statute of limitations on murder in Colorado, and Hunter said last week the investigation would remain open and active.

JonBenet, a 6-year-old child beauty contestant once crowned "Little Miss Colorado," was found strangled, bound and beaten in her home on December 26, 1996. The grand jury found insufficient evidence to bring charges after hearing evidence for 13 months.

Boulder police said all along that the girl's wealthy parents -- John and Patsy Ramsey -- were the obvious focus of the investigation. The Ramseys have maintained their innocence.

Hunter turned to the grand jury in September 1998 after the case bogged down amid accusations that the investigation was bungled by Boulder police. Investigators allowed John Ramsey to search the house for evidence after reporting the girl missing: During that search Ramsey found his daughter's body in a basement room.

Her mother told police she had found a handwritten ransom note, a rambling two-and-a-half page message demanding $118,000 for JonBenet's safe return.

The Ramsey family left Boulder in July 1997 and moved to the Atlanta area, where other family members live and where JonBenet is buried.

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