After meeting for more than a year, a Colorado grand jury announced Wednesday that there is insufficient evidence to charge anyone with the murder of the 6-year-old beauty pageant contestant, who was killed in 1996.

Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter announced that the jury deliberated for seven hours Wednesday. It was their second straight day of deliberation. The jury was made up of eight women and four men.

The grand jury has been poring over the evidence for the past 13 months. The grand jury had an Oct. 20 deadline to hand up indictments, write a report on its view of the case or disband without taking any action at all.

JonBenet, 6, once crowned "Little Miss Colorado," was found strangled, bound and beaten in her home on Dec. 26, 1996, about seven hours after her mother called 911 to report the girl missing.

She told police she had found a two-and-a-half page note demanding $118,000 for JonBenet's safe return.

Throughout the investigation, an umbrella of suspicion hung over the Ramsey family, and in particular the girl's parents, John and Patsy.

The family have steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.

The prominence of the family -- the father the millionaire president of Access Graphics, the mother a former Miss West Virginia -- and the beauty of the little blond victim guaranteed worldwide attention for nearly three years.

The case also has been plagued by questions of police mistakes and infighting within the investigation.