1997-02-27: Cops interviewed Atler in Ramsey case

Cops interviewed Atler in Ramsey case
By Kevin McCullen
February 27, 1997
Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

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BOULDER -- Police investigating the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey recently interviewed noted incest victim Marilyn Van Derbur Atler.

Atler, the 1958 Miss America, did not disclose the questions detectives asked her. But one of the topics involved incest, she said.

Meanwhile, as the investigation reached the two-month mark, authorities said a National Enquirer reporter covering the story was found dead in his Boulder hotel room Wednesday. Police said there did not appear to be any sign of foul play.

Atler has become an outspoken national figure against incest and child abuse since her revelation six years ago that her father had sexually abused her as a child.

She said she was happy to help. "I was absolutely used as a resource person. I did not ask them anything,'' Atler said.

Atler is one of more than 120 people interviewed by Boulder police in Colorado and elsewhere since JonBenet's body was found in the basement of her parents' Boulder home on Dec. 26. She had been strangled, sexually assaulted and her skull was fractured.

Atler was contacted because she "has information that may or may not be of use in this case,'' said Boulder police spokesman Kelvin McNeill.

Police were called to the Regal Harvest House hotel about 11 a.m. Wednesday after a maid found a body in a room, McNeill said. The Boulder County coroner's office identified the deceased as David Duffy, 58, of Boca Raton, Fla.

A ruling on cause of death is pending an autopsy today. Medical investigator Dan Pruett said the death did not appear to be suspicious.

Duffy, a native of Manchester, England, was an Enquirer reporter for 21 years, senior editor Charlie Montgomery said.

Duffy had high blood pressure and had been feeling ill. He was supposed to see a doctor Wednesday, Montgomery said.

"I've been in the business for 35 years and he's one of the best reporters I've ever run into,'' Montgomery said.

February 27, 1997