Patsy Ramsey, mother of slain JonBenet Ramsey, dies at 49

<p>Patsy Ramsey, whose 6-year-old daughter JonBenet's slaying has never been solved, died Saturday after a recurrence of ovarian cancer, her lawyer said. She was 49.</p><p>Ramsey had been battling cancer since 1993 and had suffered a recurrence three years ago, attorney L. Lin Wood said. Her husband, John, was with her at the time of her death.</p><p>JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in her parents' Boulder, Colo., basement on Dec. 26, 1996. A grand jury investigation ended with no indictments, and no arrests have been made.</p><p>Patsy Ramsey left her Michigan home to return to her father's home in suburban Atlanta in order to receive treatment.</p><p>"It goes without saying that her recurrent battles with cancer have taken a great toll on her and her family," Wood said.</p><p>The initial onset of her cancer came in June 1993 and she was clear of the disease six months later. The cancer returned in February 2002, detected through a liver biopsy as part of her annual checkup. She said in a speech to cancer survivors in March 2004 that the disease had returned for a third time.</p><p>The Ramseys were thrust into the national spotlight when JonBenet was found slain in the family home in Boulder.</p><p>Boulder police said early on that John Ramsey and wife Patsy were under an "umbrella of suspicion" in their child's death.</p><p>However, in 2003, U.S. District Court Judge Julie Carnes in Atlanta said the evidence she reviewed suggested an intruder killed JonBenet. That opinion came with the judge's decision to dismissed a libel and slander lawsuit against the Ramseys by a Boulder freelance journalist, who the Ramseys had named as a suspect in their daughter's murder.</p><p>A grand jury investigation in Boulder ended with no indictments, and no arrests have been made in the case.</p><p>Patsy Ramsey was born in Parkersburg, W. Va., on Dec. 29, 1956. She was crowned Miss West Virginia in the Miss America competition in 1977 and married John Ramsey on Nov. 5, 1980.</p><p>Her son, Burke, was born on Jan. 27, 1987, and JonBenet was born on Aug. 6, 1990.</p><p>The family moved to the Atlanta area shortly after JonBenet's death and later moved to Charlevoix, Mich., where Burke is currently in high school.</p><p>John Ramsey made an unsuccessful bid for the Michigan House in 2004, finishing second among six candidates vying for the Republican nomination.</p>