Patsy Ramsey, who was thrust into the national spotlight by the unsolved 1996 slaying of her daughter, 6-year-old beauty pageant contestant JonBenet, died Saturday following a long battle with ovarian cancer, her lawyer said. She was 49.

Ramsey was diagnosed with the disease in 1993 and suffered a recurrence several years ago, attorney L. Lin Wood said. She died at her father’s home in Roswell, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta, with her husband, John, at her bedside.

“It is not unexpected but it is a sad day,” Wood told The Associated Press.

JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of the family’s home in Boulder, Colo., on Dec. 26, 1996. (Read more…)

Again, newsworthy only for the freakfactor. The stories of JonBenet and OJ inaugurated the complete downfall of old media, turning it into a 24 hour idiot-fest of talking heads speculating on things for which they were totally unqualified