I believe they fucked up that whole investigation from the start. I totally remember when that happened and I also watched the movie on Lifetime ~ totally made me sick to my stomach. And yes as sad as I feel to actually say this ~ her parents put their little girl on display and in the line of fire. I can't fucking stand pedophiles ~ those sick bastards make me madder than anyone else who commits crimes ~ even killerz...Something about those sick fucks doing that to children that makes me see red. And with all the technology and education and shit we have today ~ something went extremely wrong in that case and you know the media played a major role in distorting the truth...And nevermind the fifty million who walked all over the crime scene ~ where the fuck did these people get their degrees anywayz???

While we have pushy parents in the UK, that beauty pageant thing hasn't really taken off as it has in the States. The few times I've seen televised clips, I have to say, that it leaves me feeling very disturbed.

I'd like to see all Beauty Pageants banned, especially children's B.P's. What are we teaching children by having those kind of competitions? That beauty is the most important quality? Learning makeup application and modeling are such worthless pursuits and don't develop any sort of charactor in these girls. All it really comes down to is a lucretive money making industry that exploits children by appealing to the vanity of their parents.

I find it really frightening that someone got away with this and is still out there. Doing it again?

One of the police officers I worked for once said if people knew how many pedophiles hung out at playgrounds they wouldn't let their children play there unsupervised. Then again we seem to be hearing about all the pedophiles on the computer, coaching little league, being scout masters, priests, etc. It's like every kid has a target on their back. It makes me very wary of anyone who wants to work with children.

I was outraged when I saw what these beauty pageants were like - even more disturbing was the stolen childhood - I remember seeing footage of her "rehearsals" and her mother pushing her over and over.

I read everything going at the time and there was some pretty strong evidence pointing towards her brother ....

The JonBenet story even made it here on the other side of the world. You're right---there is something eerie about a little girl acting like an adult, seemingly trying to titillate some unknown pervert watching her every move. I thought it was ghastly. I also thought that she was killed by someone she knew, someone close to the family, if not a family member.

Clearly, it was a botched investigation and none of us could possibly know who did it. I do agree with you though, W, that the whole beauty pagent thing is pretty sick, although every parent makes choices for their children relative to activities (Tiger Woods comes to mind). Most importantly, I think Rosebud's point (or her extrapolation of your point) hits the mark, in that this sort of thing teaches young girls the wrong priorites, that how we appear is more important than substantive character. It's just so sad all around. I felt sorry for Patsy. It's always tragic when something terrible happens and the media gets involved and people's lives become all about that until they die. Interesting post.

It's absolutely possible. I agree with all before who have said the investigation was mishandled from the start. In the end, a beautiful little girl died, a family devastated and no murderer sent to prison. Horrible.

I can't tell you how many times people have told me I should have my children model only to make me feel ill. No way. As Sophmom says, I see parents do this sort of thing in all forms all the time, be it sports or academics. It makes me sad. We are all a little treasure in our own way and when I see parents push so hard to fulfill their own insecurities and dreams it just seems so ultimately selfish.

I don’t know how these people get there information to solicit their pageants, but about 10 years ago I was sent an invitation for my “daughter” to start in the pageants. It was sent to her because she was turning 5 and was eligible for the Little Miss America pageant. My “daughter” was my dog! The scary part was that they had her birthday and age correct! I filled out the entry form and sent them a picture. She was never invited to participate!

I remember feeling exactly as all of you when I saw all those pictures of JonBenet. I just couldn't understand what was wrong with a six-year-old being six-year-old beautiful. What's with making her look 20? Of course, I also think it's very dangerous to teach a girl to tie her whole self-worth up in her looks.