JonBenét Ramsey's dad gives new update decades after six-year-old beauty queen murdered

Now the focus of a tragic new Netflix documentary, six-year-old beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey was murdered on Christmas night in nearly 30 years ago - and her killer has never been found

JonBenét Ramsey's dad has issued a new update nearly 30 years after his daughter's horrific murder.

The six-year-old child beauty pageant contestant disappeared on Christmas night in Boulder, Colorado in 1996 before being found bludgeoned and strangled in the basement of the family home by her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey. A long, rambling ransom note hours earlier had demanded $118,000 for her release.

JonBenét's killing sent shockwaves across the US at the time, and has sparked countless conspiracy theories in the years since. But the police investigation that followed was marred by key errors, such as the police failing to secure the house, intense media scrutiny, and possible accidental removal of evidence, leaving the case unsolved three decades on. Now, ahead of the release of a new Netflix documentary on Monday, her dad John has spoken of his renewed hope that his daughter's killer can finally be found.

Now 80 years old, he told NBC's Today show on Thursday that he believed advances in DNA technology could help bring the family closure - but claimed police were unwilling to accept outside helped. He said: "We want to keep the case alive and in front of people. I believe it can be solved if the police accept help from outside their system. That's been the flaw for 25 years."

JonBenét's death has been the subject of many conspiracy theories over the years, with some people accusing the parents of being the killers themselves, or the authors of the ransom letter. In their initial investigation, police believed that the letter - said to be written "group of individuals that represent a small foreign faction" - had been staged by mum Patsy, before a federal court ruled this was highly unlikely. But many conspiracy theorists online continue to pin the blame on the family, who have received countless death threats.

John said he remained hopeful the ongoing attention around his daughter's death meant someone would come forward with answers. He said on Thursday: "It's a double-edged sword. We're grateful that the public, and frankly the world, cares about the murder of our child. Hopefully there's someone who knows something that would come forward."

The new three-part Netflix documentary series 'Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey' will be released on November 25, following the family's "decades-long quest for justice" and the failures that scuppered the police investigation. It will feature unseen interviews with dad John and other key figures surrounding the case.