For all those folks baffled by the $118,000, it's easy to come up with an explanation.
The perp simply looked at the Ramsey's checkbook register while he was in the house. He creeps them out by asking for that exact amount, and also he knows they've got that much to cough up.
"Gimme your Christmas bonus and you will get her back!"
How about the Subic Bay reference?
The amount wasn't in a check register or even on a pay stub, as some have claimed.
It was just an irregular amount in his stock options retirement account, given to him as CEO in February before the murder in December. It was like "so many" shares of Access Graphics or Lockheed stock - would have to be multiplied out in many decimal points of fractions to arrive at the actual number.
John himself didn't even know what the amount was, rounded-off or exact.