DNA test finally clears JonBenet Ramsey's parents of murdering their daughter 12 years after her killing

The revelations finally free John and Patsy Ramsey from the 'umbrella of suspicion' that has lingered for more than a decade.

Mary Lacy, Boulder County district attorney in Colorado, said today that the tests pointed to an 'unexplained third party'.

Patsy and John Ramsey at a press conference in 2000: DNA tests have cleared them of their daughter's murder

She released a copy of a letter she sent to Mr Ramsey  -  Mrs Ramsey died of cancer two years ago  -  that said: 'To the extent that we may have contributed in any way to the public perception that you might have been involved in this crime, I am deeply sorry.'

Mrs Lacy said prosecutors no longer considered any member of the Ramsey family to be a suspect.

JonBenet was reported missing from her family's home in Boulder, Colorado, by her parents on Boxing Day 1996. Her body was later found in their basement; she had been strangled.

Murder of six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey 12 years ago has never been solved

The public remained fascinated with the case, in part because of photographs and videos of the little blonde girl competing in beauty pageants in provocative costumes. News reports cast suspicion on JonBenet's older brother, Burke.

Detectives investigating the murder added to the intrigue by suggesting that the parents were under an 'umbrella of suspicion'.

After the killing, the family moved to Atlanta. Mrs Ramsey died in June 2006 aged 49 after a long battle with ovarian cancer.

Mrs Lacy has previously expressed doubts that the parents were involved. In 2003, a federal judge handling a defamation lawsuit in Atlanta involving the Ramseys said evidence in the case was more consistent with the theory that an intruder killed JonBenet, not her parents, and Mrs Lacy said she agreed.

Mr Ramsey, a software entrepreneur, has said in interviews that he believes his daughter's murder will one day be solved.

In August 2006, the case appeared to be blown wide open with the arrest in Thailand of John Mark Karr, a sometime teacher obsessed with the death of Jon-Benet.

Karr made bizarre, detailed confessions to the killing, but authorities said DNA evidence showed he did not commit the crime.