BOULDER, Colo. – Citing new DNA tests, prosecutors on Wednesday cleared JonBenet Ramsey’s parents and brother in the 1996 killing of the 6-year-old beauty queen and apologized to the family for casting the cloud of suspicion that hung over them for more than a decade.

Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy said the tests point to an “unexplained third party.”

She released a copy of a letter she sent to John Ramsey that said: “To the extent that we may have contributed in any way to the public perception that you might have been involved in this crime, I am deeply sorry.”

For years after the slaying, tabloids and crime shows went after the couple. News reports also cast suspicion on JonBenet’s older brother, Burke, who was 9 when his sister was killed.