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DEC. 26, 1996: JonBenet Ramsey, 6, is found dead in the basement of the family's Boulder home, 755 15th St., several hours after her mother, Patsy Ramsey, called 911 to say the girl was missing and there was a ransom note in the home.

JAN. 1, 1997: Patsy and her husband, John Ramsey, go on CNN for their first interview, proclaiming their innocence and saying, "There is a killer on the loose."

JAN. 4, 1997: Reports surface that JonBenet's skull was fractured and the ransom note was written on paper from a tablet in the Ramsey home.

APRIL 27, 1997: The Ramseys run a newspaper ad offering a $100,000 reward for information about JonBenet's killer.

APRIL 30, 1997: The parents first submit to formal interviews at the Boulder County Justice Center.

MAY 20, 1997: Patsy Ramsey, still not ruled out as the author of the ransom note, provides authorities with a fifth handwriting sample.

JULY 9, 1997: The Ramseys buy a new home in Atlanta, where they move after a summer at their vacation retreat in Charlevoix, Mich.

FEB. 13, 1998: Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter says the investigation is hindered by the Ramseys' lack of cooperation.

MARCH 12, 1998: Boulder police ask Hunter to take the case to a grand jury, saying there was not "sufficient admissible evidence to convict anyone of the murder of JonBenet Ramsey."

JUNE 1-2, 1998: Boulder police spend two days presenting the results of their investigation to Hunter's prosecutorial team and outside advisers, including forensic expert Dr. Henry Lee and DNA specialist Barry Scheck, at the University of Colorado's Coors Events Center.

JUNE 24-26, 1998: John and Patsy Ramsey are interviewed separately over three days by investigators and prosecutors from the Boulder County District Attorney's Office.

AUG. 12, 1998: Colorado Gov. Roy Romer announces, and Hunter confirms, the Ramsey case will be going to a grand jury.

SEPT. 15, 1998: The Boulder County grand jury begins hearing evidence in JonBenet's death.

SEPT. 20, 1998: Retired Colorado Springs homicide investigator Lou Smit leaves the investigation, saying in a resignation letter that "John and Patsy Ramsey didn't kill their daughter."

OCT. 13, 1999: The grand jury disbands, and Hunter announces, "We do not have sufficient evidence to warrant a filing of charges against anyone who has been investigated at this time."

MAY 31, 2000: John and Patsy Ramsey and former Boulder police Detective Steve Thomas square off on CNN's "Larry King Live." Patsy tells Thomas that he is "going down the wrong path" with allegations that she killed JonBenet in an "explosive encounter" over a bed-wetting incident.

MARCH 29, 2001: The Ramseys file an $80 million libel and defamation lawsuit against Thomas and unidentified officers at the Boulder Police Department. Attorneys for Thomas subsequently agreed to an undisclosed settlement in the case.

DEC. 26, 2002: The Boulder County District Attorney's Office, now led by Mary Lacy, formerly Mary Keenan, takes over the investigation from Boulder police.

MARCH 31, 2003: In dismissing a libel lawsuit brought against the Ramseys by journalist Chris Wolf, who was briefly a suspect, a federal judge says that evidence in the suit is "more consistent with a theory that an intruder murdered JonBenet than it was with a theory that Mrs. Ramsey did."