Ramsey said he's 'grateful' to be cleared

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BOULDER, Colo., July 10 (UPI) -- The father of slain child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey says he is thankful he and his family have been exonerated in the death of his daughter.

John Ramsey received a letter this week from the Boulder District Attorney saying that newly found DNA evidence clears him and his family, KUSA-TV, Denver, reported Thursday.

"The most significant thing to me was the fact that we now have pretty irrefutable DNA evidence according to the DA's office. Certainly we are grateful that they acknowledge that we, based on that, certainly could not have been involved," he said.

Authorities had thought John Ramsey and his wife, Patsy Ramsey, had been involved in the Dec. 26, 1996, death of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey.

"It's hard for people to accept that someone could some into a home and murder a child from their bed. We were perhaps an answer," Ramsey said. "It became an entertainment event for the media sadly. It boosted ratings, attracted viewers to develop that controversy."

Patsy Ramsey died in June 2006 after a long bout with ovarian cancer.