Fact Check: Was Ghislaine Maxwell Pictured Together with Murder Victim JonBenet Ramsey?

In July, authorities arrested Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime confidant of convicted sexual abuser and leader of a sex trafficking ring for young girls Jeffrey Epstein for her alleged involvement in the case.

Child murderer?

One photograph has been going viral on social media platforms of a 6-year-old girl named JonBenet Ramsey whose death in 1996 gained national news inside the United States, with what seems to be Maxwell to her side.

According to Snopes, the photograph circulating online was a legitimate picture of Ramsey but noted that the identity of the woman users are claiming to be Maxwell remains unknown with little evidence to support the claims online.

The image looked to be taken from the April 2019 A&E special titled "Hunting JonBenet's Killer: The Untold Story." In the documentary, the image was used as a new piece of information that was not previously revealed to the public in assisting the investigation.

Some of the claims online state the photograph were the last that was taken of Ramsey but have since been debunked. The next image shown in the documentary after the alleged Maxwell photo is considered to be the final picture of Ramsey on Christmas day of 1996.

There has been little to no evidence is given to support the claim that the woman seen in the photograph with Ramsey is actually Maxwell. The majority of the claims base themselves on the fact that both women have that same short black hairstyle.

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However, as the image only shows a partial portrait of the woman's face, an accurate conclusion is difficult to provide. Several online investigators, on the other hand, continued to look into the authenticity of the claim and gathered multiple images of Maxwell to try and prove the woman is indeed Maxwell.

Neither authorities nor Maxwell has commented on the authenticity of the picture and the claim that the accused is the woman seen near Ramsey.

Working in the same firm

Online users are convinced, however, as in 1966, England-born Maxwell resided in the United States and research through her photo history has shown she touted the same short black hairstyle as the woman in the photo, as reported by The Courier Daily.

The contradiction to the claims, however, is that Maxwell mostly had clients in New York and London and nowhere near Ramsey's hometown of Denver.

Ramsey's father appointed law firm Haddon, Morgan and Foreman to investigate his daughter's murder and find out the identity of the killer.

At the time that Ramey's father signed with the firm, Maxwell allegedly worked with her close friend Laura Menninger in the firm.

The law firm specialized in child abduction and trafficking rackets and has placed Menninger to lead the investigation of Ramsey's case, who has previously worked with Maxwell extensively.

According to the Rolling Stone, however, another look into Maxwell's photographs reveal that she was seen with Andre Balazs, a hotelier, in a picture taken in New York City on December 2, 1996.