Divorced for decades and now living thousands of miles apart, Zachary Ramsay's parents shared a moment of grief Wednesday after District Judge Kenneth Neill declared the then-10-year-old who has been missing for nearly 15 years legally dead.
Watching by Vision Net video conference from Virginia, Zachary's father Franz Ramsay wiped tears from his eyes after hearing the judge's decision. Zachary's mother Rachel Howard dropped her head to her knees and, with her daughter Simone's arms wrapped around her, the women sobbed.
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Zachary Xerxes Ramsay was last seen Feb. 6, 1996, walking down an alley on his way to Whittier Elementary School. His backpack loaded with drawings, Zachary left home early that day to attend a "Good Guys" breakfast, where he was to be recognized for his artwork.
In December 1999, police arrested Nathan Bar-Jonah for impersonating an officer near Lincoln Elementary School. While executing a search warrant, investigators unearthed more than 500 boxes of Bar-Jonah's writings and other evidence that led them to charge the convicted child kidnapper with killing Zachary in December 2000.
Howard testified in court Wednesday that she always has maintained faith that her son is alive.
"They had a lot of hearsay, but all of the DNA testing came back negative," Howard told the court. "I believe my son is alive. I believe there is enough evidence out there that has been ignored."
Zach would have celebrated his 25th birthday in December.
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Franz Ramsay said that with Bar-Jonah dead, he had no hope for the resolution a confession would bring.
"I need some type of closure," he said. "This has been very painful for me."
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Franz Ramsay said he never heard from or saw Zachary in the 15 years since his son vanished. While he empathizes with Howard's hope, Franz Ramsay testified Wednesday that he is convinced Bar-Jonah killed his son.
Without an attorney to represent her in court, Howard was given the opportunity to question her ex-husband.
She asked Franz Ramsay if he abducted Zachary, saying she had to get officers involved to have Zachary returned to her care prior to the boy going missing.
"Abduct? Abduct? Why would I abduct my son?" Franz Ramsay said.
During further questioning from his lawyer, Ken Olson, Franz Ramsay said he works in the Pentagon for the Defense Intelligence Agency. The job requires top secret security clearance, which meant he passed numerous criminal and financial background checks, and even cleared mental health tests.
"Too much time has passed," Franz Ramsay said. "Knowing the evidence against Mr. Bar-Jonah ... it has been very difficult — I just need some closure on all this."
Howard also testified on the stand that she hadn't spoken to or seen Zachary in the last 15 years. However, she insisted that any of the unknown callers over the years could have been her son.
Further fueling her convictions, Howard pointed to a boy born in Butte, but who lived in Italy during the Bar-Jonah investigation. The boy not only shares a striking resemblance to her son, but also shares his name — though spelled differently — and his birthday.
When Zachary's disappearance made the national news, an Italian neighbor contacted the Great Falls police about the other Zackary. Cameron testified Wednesday that police checked the other boy's fingerprints and dental records and confirmed he wasn't Zachary Ramsay.
Howard told the court that she also tried to contact the other Zackary's family, who asked her not to call them again.
"This boy that was in Italy is my son Zachary," she said. "I don't believe a parent would ever give up on their child — no matter how many years have gone by."
She pointed to cases of children who turned up 13, 20 and even 27 years later, having thought for years that their parents were dead.
"My son's alive and I'm gonna find him, even though everyone is against me," Howard said.
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State law requires convincing evidence of a death or at least five years when no one has contacted the person in order for a person to be declared dead.
Neill, who oversaw all of the allegations against Bar-Jonah, said Zachary's case meets both standards.
Speaking delicately, Neill explained that while he understood Howard's position, he had to make a legal decision based on statute.
He described the search for Zachary as diligent and extensive, and said he was satisfied that every effort was made to find the boy.
"We do not know with the same certainty that the sun is going to rise in the East that Zachary is not alive," Neill said. "It is my conclusion that the evidence is clear and convincing that Zachary is deceased and we have no credible evidence to the contrary."
