The JonBenét Ramsey murder mystery has been rocked by a stunning new scandal after a former Colorado forensic scientist pleaded guilty to manipulating DNA evidence in criminal cases.

Yvonne “Missy” Woods, who spent nearly 30 years analyzing evidence for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, admitted to four felony charges involving altered and deleted DNA data.

Woods may have been involved in work connected to the 1996 investigation into the murder of 6-year-old beauty pageant contestant JonBenét Ramsey, raising disturbing new questions about whether evidence in the infamous case was properly handled.

There is currently no proof Woods tampered with DNA from the Ramsey investigation. However, JonBenét’s father, John Ramsey, said the possibility has left him deeply concerned.

Woods pleaded guilty this week to cybercrime, perjury, forgery and attempting to influence a public servant. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed roughly 100 additional counts.

Authorities accused Woods of changing data to hide evidence of tampering and deleting information from case files.

She is believed to have worked on more than 10,000 cases during her career with the CBI. Investigators have estimated that information may have been deleted in approximately 10 percent of those cases.

“Today, Ms. Woods accepted responsibility not only for individual acts of misconduct but for the full scope of criminal conduct that spanned decades,” District Attorney Alexis King said after the plea.

King added that the agreement guarantees Woods will serve time behind bars rather than receive probation or a community-based sentence.

Woods could face up to 16 years in prison when she is sentenced in September.

The disturbing investigation began in 2023 after a CBI intern reportedly discovered missing information in a case Woods had handled in 2018. Woods resigned from the agency later that year.

While investigators say Woods’ confirmed misconduct dates back to 2008, she was already working as part of the CBI forensic team when JonBenét was killed in 1996.

JonBenét was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family’s Boulder, Colorado, home on Dec. 26, 1996, one day after Christmas.

The case quickly became one of the most notorious unsolved murders in American history.

John Ramsey said his family had long questioned why certain items collected from the crime scene were never tested.

“We did know that a number of items from the crime scene were sent in for testing, and a number were not tested,” he told NewsNation.

“We always kind of wondered why. I mean, items that should have been sampled, but they weren’t.”

John said he does not know whether the decision was related to cost or whether investigators stopped testing after unidentified male DNA was discovered.

JonBenét’s main DNA testing was reportedly performed by an outside laboratory rather than the CBI. Still, the possibility that Woods may have handled other evidence connected to the case has added another troubling layer to the decades-old mystery.

John and his family continue to push investigators to use forensic genetic genealogy, a powerful technique that has helped solve other cold cases by comparing crime-scene DNA with family-tree databases.

“We’ve advocated for a year almost that we use forensic genetic genealogy, FGG, which is kind of the latest tool that’s out there,” John said.

“You have to go to an outside lab, but it’s got to be one that knows how to do it.”

John has previously offered to help raise money to pay for the testing.

The Ramsey family has repeatedly accused the Boulder Police Department of mishandling the investigation and failing to pursue advanced DNA testing quickly enough.

JonBenét’s mother, Patsy Ramsey, died from ovarian cancer in 2006 without ever learning who killed her daughter.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Henry Lee, who searched for DNA evidence during the early stages of the investigation, died earlier this year at age 87.

Despite decades of investigations, theories and public fascination, no one has ever been charged with JonBenét’s murder.

The search for answers is continuing, with former Alabama deputy sheriff and detective Kenny Beck reportedly brought in to take a fresh look at the evidence.

Now, the Woods scandal threatens to cast an even darker shadow over a case already plagued by accusations of mistakes, missed opportunities and unanswered questions.