Friends begin gathering at the home almost immediately. Police arrive at approximately 6:00 a.m. and perform a cursory search of the premises. A window in the basement is found broken with a suitcase underneath. There is no other indication of forced entry. They contact the FBI and begin making plans to deal with the kidnapper. A detective does not arrive until two hours later.

John Ramsey begins arranging to obtain cash for the $118,000 ransom.

At approximately 8:00 a.m. law enforcement arrives and sets up a wiretap and recording equipment.

Around 1:00 p.m., Linda Arndt asks Fleet White, a friend of the Ramseys, to take John and search the house for "anything unusual."

At approximately 1:30 p.m, father John Ramsey and his friend Fleet White find JonBenét's body in a room in the family's basement.

John Ramsey disturbs the body: he removes the tape from her mouth and carries her upstairs in outstretched arms, where he lays her on the floor at the top of the stairs and requests a blanket from the couch to cover her. Patsy then flings herself onto JonBenét's body and shouts "help me Jesus!" Linda Arndt shortly thereafter, moves JonBenét's body over near the Christmas tree and places a Colorado Avalanche's sweatshirt over her.

Twenty minutes later, John is overheard placing a phone call to his pilot to ready the plane to head for Atlanta. Police instruct them not to leave town, so they stay at a friend's home in Boulder.

At approximately 2:00 p.m., as the Ramseys are leaving their home after JonBenét's body is discovered and it is declared a crime scene, John Andrew, Melinda and Stewart Long (Melinda's fiancé) arrive in front of the house. Investigators begin a 10-day evidence gathering quest.

The coroner arrives at approximately 8 p.m. and enters the house where the decedent's body is located at approximately 8:20 p.m. The Boulder County coroner's staff remove JonBenét's body from the house at approximately 9:45 p.m.

Dec. 27: Boulder County Coroner John Meyer reports the cause of JonBenét Ramsey's death as "asphyxia by strangulation." 

Dec. 31: JonBenét is buried in Marietta, Ga. John Ramsey reportedly has hired an attorney, as well as investigators and a publicist.

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Dec. 23 to Dec. 31, 1996 Part I

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