David Rogers
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Would this be standard police procedure?
Marylin Van Derbur Atler : JonBenetRamsey
Van Derbur consulted by police
By Jim Kirksey
Denver Post Staff Writer
Feb. 27 - Marilyn Van Derbur Atler, beauty queen, a victim of and a nationally recognized expert on incest, has offered her insights to the Boulder police in the investigation of the sexual abuse and slaying of JonBenet Ramsey.
Van Derbur Atler said Wednesday that she met with Boulder police twice, once three weeks ago and again last week.
"They asked the same questions you would ask, about my personal experience, since our families (the Van Derburs and the Ramseys) are similar." She didn't ask police anything specific about the Ramseys and they didn't volunteer anything, she said.
"I'm a resource," said Miss America 1958. "I'm in touch with more survivors than anyone else in the United States. I've spoken in 161 cities. I have people tell me stories they've never told anyone. We are learning a lot (about incest)."
Police spokesman Kelvin McNeill said Van Derbur Atler was able to help police in areas of the investigation. "She was asked to provide us with insight on the case because she was a noted expert on several areas of interest to us," McNeil said.
In research on survivors, Van Derbur Atler said she found that 68 percent of victims were violated by fathers or stepfathers. The former beauty queen told in 1991 of incest with her father, socialite Francis Van Derbur. The average age of the victim for the first incident is 6.
People have a stereotyped image about incest; that it's only a problem in socially unacceptable families, poor families or chaotic families, she said. But, sometimes, those who appear to be the nicest people commit incest, and there is some resistance to accepting that.
"We fight against seeing the dark side," Van Derbur Atler said. "My father was just so charming. This happens in the nicest homes."
When people who talk to her about the Ramseys say, "It couldn't have happened in this family, in a family so beautiful," she is disheartened about the impact of her work in the last decade.
During an interview with KUSA Channel 9 reporter Paula Woodward, Alex Hunter, Boulder district attorney, declined again Wednesday to call anyone in the Ramsey family a suspect. "I'm sure it's clear ... that in terms of attempting to solve this case we are looking at everything that we think is relevant and certainly that includes the Ramseys," Hunter told Channel 9.
In response to a question about DNA evidence, the district attorney said, "Evidence is going back to Cellmark Friday. Cellmark is doing work for us in this case in terms of enhancement because they have some equipment that we don't have in Colorado."
Cellmark Diagnostics of Germantown, Md., is the only non-government lab in the country certified by a national board for DNA testing. Its most famous case was the O.J. Simpson murder trial, although the evidence was discounted because of problems at the crime scene. Authorities have said before that it will take about two months to get the results from those tests.
Jim Kirksey can be reached at [email protected]
Marylin Van Derbur Atler : JonBenetRamsey
Van Derbur consulted by police
By Jim Kirksey
Denver Post Staff Writer
Feb. 27 - Marilyn Van Derbur Atler, beauty queen, a victim of and a nationally recognized expert on incest, has offered her insights to the Boulder police in the investigation of the sexual abuse and slaying of JonBenet Ramsey.
Van Derbur Atler said Wednesday that she met with Boulder police twice, once three weeks ago and again last week.
"They asked the same questions you would ask, about my personal experience, since our families (the Van Derburs and the Ramseys) are similar." She didn't ask police anything specific about the Ramseys and they didn't volunteer anything, she said.
"I'm a resource," said Miss America 1958. "I'm in touch with more survivors than anyone else in the United States. I've spoken in 161 cities. I have people tell me stories they've never told anyone. We are learning a lot (about incest)."
Police spokesman Kelvin McNeill said Van Derbur Atler was able to help police in areas of the investigation. "She was asked to provide us with insight on the case because she was a noted expert on several areas of interest to us," McNeil said.
In research on survivors, Van Derbur Atler said she found that 68 percent of victims were violated by fathers or stepfathers. The former beauty queen told in 1991 of incest with her father, socialite Francis Van Derbur. The average age of the victim for the first incident is 6.
People have a stereotyped image about incest; that it's only a problem in socially unacceptable families, poor families or chaotic families, she said. But, sometimes, those who appear to be the nicest people commit incest, and there is some resistance to accepting that.
"We fight against seeing the dark side," Van Derbur Atler said. "My father was just so charming. This happens in the nicest homes."
When people who talk to her about the Ramseys say, "It couldn't have happened in this family, in a family so beautiful," she is disheartened about the impact of her work in the last decade.
During an interview with KUSA Channel 9 reporter Paula Woodward, Alex Hunter, Boulder district attorney, declined again Wednesday to call anyone in the Ramsey family a suspect. "I'm sure it's clear ... that in terms of attempting to solve this case we are looking at everything that we think is relevant and certainly that includes the Ramseys," Hunter told Channel 9.
In response to a question about DNA evidence, the district attorney said, "Evidence is going back to Cellmark Friday. Cellmark is doing work for us in this case in terms of enhancement because they have some equipment that we don't have in Colorado."
Cellmark Diagnostics of Germantown, Md., is the only non-government lab in the country certified by a national board for DNA testing. Its most famous case was the O.J. Simpson murder trial, although the evidence was discounted because of problems at the crime scene. Authorities have said before that it will take about two months to get the results from those tests.
Jim Kirksey can be reached at [email protected]
