The 1996 murder of child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey shocked the country years ago and continues to be one of the country’s biggest unsolved mysteries to-date.
The 6-year-old girl was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her parents Patsy Ramsey—who died of cancer at 49 in 2006—and John Ramsey’s home in Boulder, Colorado in 1996.
No one has ever been charged in the murder, but nearly 30 years since the murder, it has been the topic of several documentaries produced over the years and has sparked a number of conspiracy theories ranging from curious, to absolutely wild.
Now a conspiracy theory around Ramsey’s death — one that originated back in 2014 — has suddenly resurfaced and is going viral on social media.
And if you can believe it, it involves one of the world’s biggest pop culture celebrities.
According to ENews, there’s a conspiracy theory that’s been around since 2014 alleging that the 1996 murder was a hoax.
The theory centers around the fact that Ramsey is still alive… and is actually mega-pop star Katy Perry.
Um, What? Conspiracy Theorists Believe Katy Perry Is Jon-Benet Ramseyhttps://t.co/wwfJfyj6SZ pic.twitter.com/JzQs6PAhdX
— LEX 18 News (@LEX18News) February 26, 2016
Theorists say that not only do Perry and Ramsey look alike, but their parents apparently look alike as well.
And, the claim floats all the back to a quote given by Perry to Vanity Fair in 2011 points to her true identity.
“Not that I was one of those stage kids. There was no JonBenét Ramsey inside of me waiting to burst out,” Perry told the magazine about writing songs at an early age.
So why is this theory suddenly going viral (again)?
An AI-generated post was circulated on Instagram and it shows JonBenét turning into the singer.
View this post on Instagram
Perry recently commented on the clip saying, “Wait, am I?”
So, that’s the latest theory in this mystery.
But theories aside, law enforcement continues to try and figure out exactly what happened nearly 30 years ago.
JonBenét’s dad says he hasn’t given up on solving the case. The 81-year-old met with Boulder’s new police chief Steve Redfearn in January and said it was the first time in 28 years that he felt it was in good hands, NBC News reported in January.
“They were just open to sincerely discuss the case,” he told the outlet. “I’m just very impressed with the caliber of the leadership now and that gave me great hope.”
JonBenét’s father, who was the one who had discovered his daughter’s body, also expressed hope that forensic genetic genealogy, which has helped solve other cold cases, will yield answers, adding, “That’s how it’s going to get solved.”
Last November, one day after Netflix released the three-part documentary Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey, Boulder’s police chief addressed criticism that had been made against his department with regard to how they had handled the murder case.
“There are a number of things that people have pointed to throughout the years that could have been done better, and we acknowledge that is true,” Redfearn said in a video posted on X.
“However, it is important to emphasize that while we cannot go back to that horrible day in 1996, our goal is to find JonBenét Ramsey’s killer. Our commitment to that has never wavered.”