EXCLUSIVE – John Ramsey, father of JonBenet Ramsey, says the loss of his two daughters within a four-year period in the 1990s “challenged” and eventually strengthened his faith.

Ramsey made the comments about faith while reflecting on 6-year-old JonBenet’s murder 28 years ago, when he found her dead in the basement of their Boulder, Colorado, home the day after Christmas in 1996.

“I don’t know of anything worse for a person than to lose a child. I’ve had several things that I’ve been through: a divorce, I’ve lost my job, I lost my life savings,” Ramsey told Fox News Digital. “But the loss of the child was overwhelmingly much, much more hurtful and much more of a loss to what life’s all about for a parent.”

He has been through that loss twice — once in 1992, when his oldest daughter Beth was killed in a car accident, and again in 1996, when JonBenet was killed.

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“When I lost my daughter Beth four years before we lost JonBenet, it just took me to my knees. I was just devastated. … I wasn’t prepared at all for that,” Ramsey recalled. “And it really challenged my faith as well. How could a loving God let this happen to an innocent child? But then, over the next few years, a lot of soul-searching and thinking and talking to friends helped me process that part of the loss, which was … potentially the loss of my faith as well.”

After Beth’s death, Ramsey began to reflect on whether there is “more to life than what we see and live here on Earth.” He described finding his faith as a several-year-long process.

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John and Patsy Ramsey, the parents of JonBenet Ramsey, meet with local Colorado media after four months of silence in Boulder, Colo., May 1, 1997. (Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

“And when I lost JonBenet, that was rock solid,” he said of his faith. “Faith is something that’s in your heart. I’m a left-brained person by nature, I guess. I was an engineer and educated that way. And you’re always looking for proof and facts. And so it’s not abnormal to fall back into, ‘Wait a minute. I’m not sure I believe.’ … But if the faith has gotten to your heart, and you’ve wrestled with the whys and what ifs … then it’s pretty solid.”

Ramsey said he believes both of his daughters are in heaven, even though he can’t personally conceptualize what that looks like.

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The JonBenet Ramsey murder case has gone unsolved for over two decades. (Ramsey family handout)

For years after her death, his family did not celebrate Christmas, but they decided that putting an end to the holiday festivities was not fair to her older brother, Burke, who was 9 years old at the time of her death.

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“It just was too hard. We didn’t have a Christmas tree. We didn’t decorate the house, and we just got through it. And we just said, ‘Well, that’s not fair to our youngest son, Burke,’ who was at the time a 9-year-old, little boy. So, we tried to do things that would put his life back to normal as best we could. And celebrating Christmas was one of those things that we — after, I think probably three years — we just said, ‘OK, that’s why we need to do that for Burke’s sake’ and just kind of eased into that celebration again.”

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JonBenet’s murder has not been solved despite police initially having a list of suspects they considered, including the Ramseys themselves. The Ramseys were cleared of wrongdoing in 2008. 

WATCH: John Ramsey plans meeting with police, DNA rep

Police also arrested a suspect named John Mark Karr in Thailand in 2006 after he admitted to killing JonBenet, but prosecutors dropped charges against Karr because his DNA did not match DNA found at the crime scene.

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Ramsey wants police to retest certain evidence for traces of DNA, including external male DNA that federal officials disclosed in 1997, and test other items for the first time using modern genetic genealogy test labs, which have made significant advancements over the last decade. Numerous decades-old cold cases have been solved in recent years due to DNA testing.

John Ramsey is still searching for answers 28 years after his daughter’s murder. (Netflix)

There are more than 20 significant pieces of evidence in the JonBenet murder case that have never been tested.

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While it is unclear if officials will be able to find or identify any suspects in the case by partnering with an independent lab with access to private databases, Ramsey is hopeful that it is the next step for him in his pursuit of justice for his daughter, whether it yields results or not.

He previously told Fox News Digital he plans to meet with the Boulder Police Department in January to discuss DNA testing possibilities.

Today, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge may be the world’s most photographed. Upon its completion, it became Earth’s longest suspension bridge and the Bay Area’s most famous attraction.

But in the early 20th century, it was just an impossible dream—and when construction workers broke ground on January 5, 1933, work started inauspiciously as they began moving three million cubic feet of dirt.

The idea for a bridge across the Golden Gate Strait, where the Pacific Ocean flows into the bay in Northern California, was first floated in 1872 by railroad mogul Charles Crocker. But most dismissed Crocker’s idea. A bridge stretching almost two miles across open ocean? Unfeasible.

Nearly five decades later, in 1916, San Francisco engineer James H. Wilkins re-proposed the bridge, and by 1919, officials tasked city engineer Michael M. O’Shaughnessy with exploring the idea. When O’Shaughnessy consulted with engineers from across the country, most estimated such a project would cost more than $100 million, if it could be done at all.

One engineer, though, believed in the project from the start: Joseph B. Strauss, who told O’Shaughnessy it could be built for around $27 million.

Strauss’ original design was a dud, so he recruited other players who steered the project onto a successful course. Charles Ellis, an Illinois engineer, and Leon Moisseiff, designer of New York City’s Manhattan Bridge, drew up a new, $35 million plan. Architect Irving Morrow contributed the Gate’s famous aesthetics, like its Art Deco lines, dramatic lighting and iconic reddish color—called “industry orange.”

Construction began in January 1933. In 1934, the north tower was raised, and in 1935, the south pier. By 1936, workers had built a precarious catwalk between them so they could build suspension cables in situ.

Facing Pacific winds atop the towers, workers insulated their jackets with crumpled newspaper. “You put all the clothes on you had and worked, worked hard, or you’d freeze,” worker Martin Adams told KQED. He called the Golden Gate Strait “the coldest place I’ve ever worked.”

Still, it was the 1930s—the middle of the Great Depression—and people were desperate for work. Hopeful men lined up, waiting for construction jobs that would open when laborers inevitably died on the job.

Loss of life was expected with big projects like this one, but Strauss took a special interest in protecting the bridge’s builders. Workers wore special hard hats and glare-free goggles, and Strauss insisted on an unheard-of construction feature: a $130,000 safety net. It ended up catching 19 men, who called themselves the “Halfway to Hell Club.” But it didn’t catch all who fell.

On February 17, 1936, construction workers were tasked with removing wooden scaffolding, working from a temporary catwalk. Adams watched as the catwalk broke away, ripped through the safety net and fell into the ocean, taking 12 men with it—220 feet down.

“The only thing that went through my mind was survival,” said Slim Lambert, one of the falling men. “I knew that to have a prayer, I had to hit the water feet first.”

When Lambert plunged into the Pacific, his legs became tangled in the sinking net. He was pulled so deep that his ears bled before he untangled himself and swam to the surface. He and two others were plucked from the waves by a crab fisherman, but only Lambert and colleague Oscar Osberg survived.

Construction continued. By May 1936, the cable compression was finished, In November, two main span sections were joined, marked by a blessing with holy water. In the first half of 1937, the roadway was paved.

Finally, on the morning of May 27, 1937, 18,000 people gathered on each side of the finished Golden Gate Bridge as it opened to pedestrians. San Franciscans had fun with it, marking historic firsts: The San Francisco Chronicle recorded the first person to walk across the bridge on stilts, pushing a stroller, on roller skates, on a unicycle and while playing a tuba. A week’s worth of celebrations became known as the Golden Gate Bridge Fiesta.

The bridge has since become a symbol of architectural ingenuity and Bay Area style. After all, its construction was championed by citizens who voted to spend a fortune building a structure once deemed impossible in a time of economic strife.

DENVER — An AFC West rivalry clash to end the 2024 NFL regular season has a lot riding on it for at least one team, as the Denver Broncos fight for their playoff lives when they host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

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Kansas City Chiefs (15-1) vs. Denver Broncos (9-7)

• When: Sunday, January 5
• Time: 4:25 p.m. ET
• Where: Empower Field at Mile High (Denver, Colo.)
• Channel: CBS
• Stream: FuboTV (Free Trial), DirecTV Stream, Sling, Paramount+

The Broncos have battled hard this season. With a rookie quarterback and a stout defense, the team has played good enough to keep them in postseason contention. They have had opportunities to clinch their fist playoff spot in nine years. However, losses to the Los Angeles Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals put them in a bind heading into the final week of the season.

The task heading into the game is rather simple on paper: do not lose to the Chiefs. A win or a tie puts Denver into the postseason for the first time since 2015, the year they last won the Super Bowl. If they lose, they will need the Miami Dolphins to lose.

It might not be that hard, as Kansas City is resting some of its top stars, such as Patrick Mahomes. That’s because the team has already locked up the first seed in the AFC, getting a bye of the Wild Card round. The team has certainly been an interesting team, as their numerous one-score wins lead many to wonder if this team has the ability to make a run to a third Super Bowl in a row.

The first time these two teams met, the Broncos fell short thanks to a blocked field goal. The Chiefs have won 17 of the last 18 meetings with Denver, with KC holding a 73-56 record against their rivals.

MY PICK: Broncos win, 24-21

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