An evolving controversy: Timeline
1996
Dec. 26: Patsy Ramsey says she has found a 2 1/2-page ransom note on a staircase demanding $118,000 for JonBenét. Several hours later, John Ramsey brings his daughter's body up from the basement.
Dec. 31: JonBenét, wearing a tiny tiara, is buried in Marietta, Ga. The family hires an attorney, a publicist and investigators.
1997
Jan. 1: John and Patsy Ramsey grant an exclusive interview to CNN. Patsy Ramsey tells viewers: "There is a killer on the loose."
Jan. 4: Reports surface that JonBenét's skull was fractured and the ransom note was written on paper obtained from a tablet in the Ramsey home.
Jan. 21: Police say they have narrowed their list of suspects. Reports reveal that the amount of the ransom demand equaled a bonus Ramsey received at work.
Jan. 22: The Ramsey family reportedly refuses to submit to polygraph tests.
Feb. 12: The Ramseys refuse to agree to police conditions on interviews.
Feb. 13: District Attorney Alex Hunter, above right, announces "dream team" task force, including crime-scene analyst Henry Lee, also above, and DNA expert Barry Scheck.
Feb. 14: Portions of the autopsy report are released, indicating JonBenét suffered severe head injuries, was strangled and may have been sexually assaulted.
Feb. 24: A Ramsey spokesman says family members know they are "at the top of the list of possible suspects."
March 6: Authorities clear JonBenét's adult half siblings, John Andrew and Melinda Ramsey, as suspects. Later, JonBenét's brother, Burke, 9 at the time of her death, was cleared.
March 13: Retired Colorado Springs police investigator Lou Smit, left, joins the investigation team.
March 28: The family fires its media consultant.
April 18: District Attorney Alex Hunter says the Ramseys are under an "umbrella of suspicion" but that no conclusion has been reached.
April 23: Ramsey lawyers send a scathing letter to authorities accusing police of a lack of objectivity.
April 27: The Ramseys run a newspaper ad offering a $100,000 reward for information about JonBenét's killer.
April 30: The Ramseys are interviewed separately by police, the first formal sessions since the slaying.
May 14: Two detectives, including the first to arrive at the Ramsey home, are removed from the case.
June 27: The Colorado Bureau of Investigation completes an analysis of the fifth handwriting sample from Patsy Ramsey. Investigators say John Ramsey did not write the note, but the results are inconclusive about his wife.
July 23: Ramsey steps up his investigation and criticism of police.
Sept. 8: DA Hunter releases copies of the ransom note.
Oct. 10: Cmdr. Mark Beckner replaces John Eller as lead investigator. Police Chief Tom Koby admits mistakes were made early in the case.
1998
Jan. 16: The Ramseys refuse a subsequent interview unless investigators show them all the evidence.
March 12: Police say a grand jury should be convened to ensure a "a complete investigation."
March 31: Koby says he will step down as soon as a replacement is found.
May 19: Detective Linda Arndt, the first detective on the scene in the Ramsey case, sues Koby, alleging he used her as a scapegoat.
June 1-2: Police present more than 30,000 pages of evidence to 16 criminal-justice experts, including Hunter, in hopes the case will be given to a grand jury.
June 23-25: JonBenét's parents are questioned separately by police, their first interviews in more than a year. JonBenét's brother is interviewed for about six hours. July 9: The Ramseys deny involvement
in JonBenét's death during a documentary that aired on British television.
Aug. 6: Lead Detective Steve Thomas resigns, accusing Hunter's staff of being compromised, of refusing to issue search warrants and of refusing to cooperate with police.
Aug. 12: Gov. Roy Romer refuses a second request to appoint a special prosecutor. Hunter says he will give the case to a grand jury.
Sept. 15: The grand jury begins its investigation.
Sept. 25: In another sign of disputes among authorities, Lou Smit, a retired Colorado Springs police investigator who had joined the investigative team, resigns, claiming JonBenét's parents were innocent.
Sept. 29: John Ramsey blasts police in a letter sent to news organizations.
Oct. 29: Grand jurors tour the former Ramsey home.
1999
Jan. 28: Hunter asks the public's help in locating the manufacturer of a toy bear in a Santa Claus suit reportedly found in JonBenét's room.
Sept. 23: The grand jury returns to work for the first time since May 25.
Oct. 13: The district attorney announces that no indictments are to be issued, citing lack of sufficient evidence.
2002
February: The Ramseys' family attorney says doctors have diagnosed a recurrence of ovarian cancer in Patsy Ramsey. She was first diagnosed in 1993.
District Attorney Mary Keenan (now Mary Lacy) announces that her office is taking over the Ramsey investigation.
2003
April: Keenan says she agrees with a federal judge in Atlanta that the evidence points to an intruder, not the 6-year-old beauty queen's parents, as the girl's killer.
June: Keenan says retired Arvada detective Tom Bennett will spend 20 to 30 hours a week on the case.
2004
May: The staff of Gov. Bill Owens meets with a group, Forums for Justice, that wants a special prosecutor appointed in the case.
June: Denver police say a DNA profile of blood taken from JonBenét Ramsey's underpants does not match any of the more than 1.5 million DNA profiles in the FBI's database. The family's attorney says it also does not match her parents.
Aug. 3: John Ramsey finishes second among six candidates in the GOP primary to be elected to the Michigan House. December: CBS's "48 Hours Mystery" reports that a police crime lab has produced a DNA composite of JonBenét's killer, and Boulder authorities have a list of more than 100 "people of interest." John and Patsy Ramsey are not on it.
2005
Aug 29: Former Telluride town marshal Jim Kolar is named the Boulder County district attorney's lead investigator in the case.2006 June 24: Patsy Ramsey dies of ovarian cancer at age 49.