Paging Ariana Hoffmann Pugh
jameson
BOULDER -- Police still are searching for the source of unmatched DNA
in the
JonBenet Ramsey case -- more than two years after the murder.
Linda Hoffmann-Pugh, the Ramseys' housekeeper, on Tuesday said Boulder
police
on Jan. 10 took a mouth swab from her 13-year-old daughter, Ariana.
Hoffmann-Pugh said Detective Jane Harmer told her that Boulder District
Attorney Alex Hunter ordered the DNA sample collected.
Prosecutors are presenting evidence to a Boulder County grand jury that
is
investigating the 1996 slaying.
There remain two unidentified DNA samples in the case: one is dried
fluid from
two sources found in the 6-year-old victim's underwear. The second was
taken
from beneath JonBenet's fingernails.
Hoffmann-Pugh, a Fort Lupton resident, believes her daughter's DNA was
collected so she could be excluded as a suspect. Police have done that
with
dozens of family acquaintances.
What puzzles Hoffmann-Pugh is the timing.
"I don't know why they couldn't have done this two years ago," said
Hoffmann-Pugh. Previously, she said, police had only taken her
daughter's
fingerprints.
Suzanne Laurion, a spokeswoman for Hunter's office, declined to
comment.
Earlier this month, Hoffmann-Pugh said she and her husband, Mervin
Pugh, were
scheduled to testify before the end of January. Tuesday, she declined
to say
whether or not they have done so.
"They told me I'm not allowed to say whether I have or haven't," she
said.
Hoffmann-Pugh said she and her daughter cleaned the Ramsey's Boulder
home
before a Dec. 23 Christmas party. The mother and daughter also attended
the
party.
Ariana and JonBenet spent a substantial amount of time together that
day,
Hoffmann-Pugh said.
"They were putting on makeup that day," she recalled.
Two nights later JonBenet was murdered during the night. Her beaten and
strangled body was found in the family's basement the afternoon of Dec.
26.
Hoffmann-Pugh said Harmer also questioned her daughter about the case
Jan. 10,
but not in great depth.
"Ariana doesn't remember a lot of things -- or doesn't want to remember
too
much," said Hoffmann-Pugh. "I'm not sure which it is.
January 20, 1999
Ariana is an adult now - and I would like to invite her to join us. I
think she has plenty to contribute.