Nearly nine years ago, Colorado was gripped by the murder mystery of 6-year-old JonBenét Ramsey.
Her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, didn’t cooperate fully with Boulder police early on and fell under what the cops called “an umbrella of suspicion.” They hired a public relations person, then a team of lawyers.
JonBenét’s killer has never been brought to justice.
Today, we’re gripped by the sad, still unraveling story of 6-year-old Aaroné Thompson of Aurora.
Aaroné’s father reported her missing Nov. 14, just hours after a caseworker from Catholic Charities visited their home. Her grandfathers have launched a neighborhood search, believing she’s still alive. If so, today is her 7th birthday.
However, police suspect she’s dead, and they’ve been digging up her backyard looking for her body.
Her father, Aaron, and his girlfriend, Shelley Lowe, won’t talk to police, and they’ve been identified as “persons of interest” in the case. They, like the Ramseys, have hired a personal spokesman to represent them to the public.
Like JonBenét, Aaroné also was named after her father. That’s where the similarities seem to end.
Aaroné Thompson, somehow, was allowed to vanish from sight. Unlike the unending rolls of footage of JonBenét strolling pageant runways that turned her death into a national whodunit, the only photo of Aaroné is many months old. It’s nearly impossible for the public to keep its eyes peeled for Aaroné since we hardly know what she looks like.
She was never enrolled in school, much less a pageant, and there are conflicting stories about the last time someone spoke with her. Was it Nov. 13, or this past summer? Or last Christmas? Or even longer? Police suspect she may have been killed as long as 18 months ago.
It’s hard to imagine a more heart-wrenching scenario. To avoid another JonBenét case, Aaroné’s father and his girlfriend need to drop their silly games, such as trying to obtain transcripts of police interviews with their children, and sit down with cops and tell them whatever they need to know.
Aurora’s new police chief, Daniel Oates, started work Monday, and already his hands are full. Aaron Thompson hasn’t talked with police since the day he reported his daughter as a runaway, and he hasn’t taken part in the neighborhood searches for his daughter.
Aaroné deserves so much more.
