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Police are examining if genetic DNA testing can help find JonBenét Ramsey's killer 25 years later.
Police in Boulder, Colorado, have been working with state investigators on "future DNA advancements," the police department said Monday in a statement, days before the anniversary of JonBenét's death.
"As the Department continues to use new technology to enhance the investigation, it is actively reviewing genetic DNA testing processes to see if those can be applied to this case moving forward," it said.
On Dec. 26, 1996, JonBenét, 6, was discovered dead in the basement of her family's Boulder home, bludgeoned and strangled. This was several hours after her mother called 911 to tell authorities her daughter was missing and a ransom note had been found. While JonBenét's death was ruled a homicide, nobody has ever been charged in the case.
By comparing DNA profiles from crime scenes to DNA testing results people shared online through researching their family trees, investigators have identified suspects in cold cases in recent years, such as California's Golden State Killer.
There was also a man in Oregon accused of killing two people who disappeared 20 years apart after DNA testing comparison connected him to the 1999 disappearance and assumed death of one of the people. Christopher Lovrien pleaded not guilty to charges of murder.
It's unclear if this is the method investigators plan to apply to the JonBenét case.
A police spokesperson, Dionne Waugh, said she could not comment further because the investigation is still "active and ongoing."
Investigators have analyzed nearly 1,000 DNA samples during the course of the JonBenét investigation, police said in the statement, along with receiving, reviewing, or investigating more than 21,016 tips, letters and emails. Detectives have traveled to 19 states to interview or speak with more than 1,000 people in connection with the case, the department said.
Tests in 2008 on newly discovered DNA on JonBenét's clothing pointed to the involvement of an "unexplained third party" in her slaying, and not her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, or their son, Burke. That led former district attorney Mary Lacy to clear the Ramseys of any involvement, two years after Patsy Ramsey died of cancer, calling the couple "victims of this crime."
The police department was criticized for its initial handling of the investigation into the death of JonBenét, who had competed in beauty pageants.
The details of the crime and video footage of JonBenét from the pageants propelled the case into one of the highest-profile mysteries in the United States, unleashing a series of true-crime books and TV specials.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
