Burke Ramsey was thrown into the public eye after his sister, JonBenét Ramsey, was murdered in 1996 — but where is he now?
Ahead of Netflix’s Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey, which premieres on Monday, November 25, a Ramsey family member exclusively told Us Weekly about Burke’s whereabouts these days.
“Burke had a very painful and very lonely upbringing,” the insider shared. “The family tried very hard to shield him, but you can’t shield a kid from the fact that his sister was murdered and everyone thinks that his family did it. Or that he did it.”
Burke’s loved ones tried their best to protect him amid the high-profile investigation into JonBenét’s death.
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“We tried super hard to give him a normal childhood, and on some level the family succeeded. But on another level, it was an impossible task,” the family member continued. “How do you protect someone from that? So Burke was often isolated, he didn’t have a lot of friends. He was very smart and a good student, but he struggled socially.”
JonBenét was found dead at age 6 in the basement of her house hours after she had been reported missing. She had sustained a broken skull and a garrote was tied around her neck. JonBenét’s official cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma and her death was ruled a homicide.
In the years since JonBenét’s murder, the Boulder police looked into many suspects and theories. JonBenét and Burke’s parents, Patsy and John Ramsey, were accused of being involved in her death and a grand jury voted to indict the pair in 1999. The indictment was never signed by the Boulder district attorney, however, because there was a lack of evidence. The couple were exonerated in 2008 when DNA testing helped investigators determine that the DNA found on JonBenét’s body was from an unrelated male.
Despite authorities no longer looking into JonBenét’s family as suspects, online sleuths have continued to spread speculation that Patsy, John or Burke were responsible for her death. The entire family has denied any involvement or knowledge about JonBenét’s murder.
John and Patsy continued to speak out about the open case in hopes of finding the person responsible for JonBenét’s death. (Patsy died of ovarian cancer at age 49 in 2006.) Burke, meanwhile, largely stayed out of the spotlight except for a rare interview with Dr. Phil in 2016.
After CBS released a docuseries The Case Of that accused Burke of killing his sister, he sued the network for $750 million. The defamation lawsuit was settled in 2019 and Burke hasn’t spoken out publicly since then.
“Is Burke happy? He’s as happy as he can be, given the circumstances,” the family member told Us. “He’s productive. He’s moving past all the trauma and living the best way he can. That’s all you can expect.”
Keep scrolling for a detailed — and exclusive — glimpse into Burke’s life in the aftermath of JonBenét’s murder:
Does Burke Talk About His Sister and Her Murder?
Burke Ramsey ABC News/YouTube
“Burke doesn’t talk about the case. Ever. He doesn’t talk about JonBenét at all. It’s not a topic of conversation among the family, and he never volunteers anything about her,” the insider revealed to Us. “When he was younger, even her name would make him upset, because it was really painful and he didn’t know what to do with it. And then when he was in high school, he knew all the whispers.”
Burke was 9 years old when JonBenét’s body was found in their home. He is now 37 and is a software engineer in Michigan. After getting his degree from Purdue in 2010, Burke got a series of home-based jobs in the technology field and would largely stay out of the public eye.
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How Does Burke Deal With Public Speculation?
JonBenet Ramsey ABC News/YouTube
Three years after JonBenét’s death, the police and Boulder district attorney publicly stated that Burke was not a suspect. The prolonged delay in ruling Burke out in the court of public opinion weighed on him throughout the years.
“He spent his formative years under investigation, and all the while, the cops knew the DNA wasn’t his, but wouldn’t release that,” the family member noted about the evidence found on JonBenét’s body. “What the Boulder police department did to [John and Patsy] was reprehensible, but what they did to Burke is unforgivable. They took part in destroying a vulnerable little boy’s life.”
The insider questioned theories that connected Burke with the garrote found around JonBenét’s neck.
“He was 9 years old. He couldn’t have possibly done something that sophisticated, and he didn’t have the skills or the strength. He wasn’t a coordinated little kid, but even the most coordinated one couldn’t have done that,” the unnamed Ramsey family member continued. “And the garrote was done while JonBenét was still alive. So Burke didn’t do it, no one with any knowledge of the case ever really thought he did it. So imagine that he was under suspicion for so many years, when there was concrete proof that he didn’t do it.”
As JonBenét’s case has been passed down to different DA successors and detectives at the Boulder PD, her family has questioned the lack of answers. A spokesperson for the Boulder PD told Us in a November 2024 statement that they are “aggressively investigating the case and pursuing all avenues.”
Where Is Burke Now?
JonBenet Ramsey ABC News/YouTube
Burke gave his only interview in 2016 to Dr. Phil. He later sued CBS and the producers of The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey after an insinuation that he killed JonBenét. The case settled out of court for an undisclosed amount in 2019 and Burke bought a home in Michigan for $265,000 later that year.
“He settled with CBS for a small fraction of the $750 million, but it was enough for him to start a quiet, private life. He isn’t really recognized where he is. He’s left alone,” the family member shared with Us. “And that’s what he needed.”
The insider continued: “He doesn’t read anything about the case, doesn’t watch anything about it. If he sees a show about it, he changes the channel. He’s not the least bit interested in watching any of the documentaries. He’s not going to watch [the Netflix] one. Absolutely not. It’s triggering to him, and there’s no benefit for him.”
Despite JonBenét’s case being one of the most infamous unsolved murders, Burke has preferred not to bring attention to himself or his sister.
“He’s got a great job, makes good money and he likes it. He’s a software engineer for a midsize company. He is very into computers. He has like 10 of them in a home office,” the family member detailed.”He gets together with [his dad John Ramsey] sometimes, and they talk about things.”
JonBenét is the only topic Burke won’t speak on, with the insider adding, “That’s not on the table. If we were to bring it up, he’d just shut down. He doesn’t want to talk about that. Ever.”
Paramount+’s JonBenét Ramsey show has people talking about how much the cast resembles their real-life counterparts. The upcoming eight-episode limited series will cover the Ramsey family before and after JonBenét’s 1996 murder. JonBenét Ramsey specifically centers around parents John and Patsy dealing with the loss of their child as an investigation questions their involvement in […]
Is Burke Dating Anyone?
“Burke has dated and he has had girlfriends. He’s dating someone now, but he is keeping her very quiet,” the family member told Us. “He’s very solitary, though. Likes to be alone, likes things quiet. He’s an introvert, would rather have a very small circle of friends than a huge crowd.”
After growing up with the public speculating about his life, Burke has developed “trust issues.”
“He doesn’t like to open himself up to people, because he’s been burned again and again and again,” the insider concluded. “People share all his secrets. They ask him painful questions out of morbid curiosity.”