In the six years I covered the JonBenet Ramsey case, I only met Patsy Ramsey once.

It was a chance meeting in a Boulder store, during one of the visits the Ramseys made after moving to Atlanta. I asked her several questions, she politely declined and we went our separate ways. She seemed a little self conscious, a little unkempt at the time - not what one would expect from a former beauty queen.

Before and after that brief encounter, all of the correspondence I had with the Ramseys was filtered through their attorney L. Lin Wood. Wood is a southern gentleman who adamantly defends the Ramseys against the world. During my time chasing Ramsey, he returned phone calls, rarely went off the record and answered all questions.

It's a pretty safe bet to say that few, if any, of the media's questions ever actually reached the Ramseys, but Wood was their spokesperson and he answered the way he felt best fit.

Working as a reporter for the Longmont Daily Times-Call, I developed a good relationship with Wood. Long after the Denver newspapers and television stations packed up and went away - save the yearly anniversary takes - the Times-Call and Boulder's Daily Camera still followed everything Ramsey with interest. Both papers claimed Boulder County as their own and each contributed ample resources to the case.

Covering the story for the Camera happened to be one of my best pals from college, Chris Anderson. As obsessed as I was with the investigation, Chris was even more so. He had files and files of notes in his apartment. People often compared him to Columbo. He had a bumbling, but charming, way about him and was instantly likeable.

We used to go out for drinks after work, but refused for the first couple cocktails to discuss what we had worked on that day. When we knew the papers had been put to bed, we would reveal what we had dug up. There were some long nights for both of us on occasion, knowing the other had drummed up a scoop that would land on doorsteps in the morning. It was good competition and it made us both better.

Many of the stories that ran in the Daily Camera and the Daily Times-Call would resurface months later in the Denver papers, local television stations or the big networks. These stories would always be accompanied with claims that they were "new" or "exclusives." The people of Boulder County, of course, knew better.

In May of 2001, I sat in a Boulder County courtroom next to Chris covering a preliminary hearing for a particularly nasty gang rape case. Sitting in the first pew watching the motions were two old men we referred to as court groupies. These groupies and others like them began showing up during the Ramsey case and stayed on during other high profile cases. Most of these people had no connection to the case other than a keen interest. They often knew more about the motions and status of cases than some reporters.

On this particular day, Chris was getting ready to take the first vacation he had in more than a year. I pointed to the two men and joked that they could be us in 40 years.

He said, "Who are you kidding? We're still going be here with our notebooks covering these cases." I half believed him.

Days later Chris was killed when he was struck by lightning while on a Ft. Lauderdale beach.

The guestbook on Chris' online obituary included the names of Lin Wood and Boulder Police Chief Chief Mark Beckner - two men who couldn't be more diametrically opposed. He had treated them both fair.

Chris Anderson took with him more knowledge and insight about the Ramsey case than any other reporter will ever have.

It's a shame we have to do without.