Cheryl Nablo, a Des Moines detective who specializes in missing children, joined a multiagency effort to find 14-year-old Jade Colvin after she ran away from a shelter in June 2016. The U.S. Marshals Service adopted the case through Operation Homecoming, and a team including Deputy U.S. Marshal Justin Wallace, Detective Chris Wuebker and Special Agent Jon Turbett worked the cold case.
Jade had a troubled childhood. Her mother, LaDawn, and father, Kevin, struggled with substance abuse; LaDawn lost custody in September 2015 and Jade was placed in foster care. Jade ran away repeatedly, resisting placement in strangers’ homes. LaDawn sometimes hid her from authorities and arranged stays with friends and family. Friends and relatives described Jade as upbeat and easygoing despite a difficult home life.
Family and friends posted pleas online for years. LaDawn posted desperate messages looking for her daughter; when LaDawn died a year later, there was still no response from Jade. Investigators combed social media, broadcast posters statewide, and followed tips from across the country. A potential sighting at a Minnesota hospital proved not to be Jade, but tips continued to come in.
The first big break arrived when detectives obtained search warrants for Jade’s and LaDawn’s social media. Instagram messages from March 2017 indicated Jade had been staying in Arizona and that LaDawn planned to bring her back to Iowa. LaDawn’s Facebook referenced Decorah, a small town in northeast Iowa, and mentioned someone named James. Investigators identified that man as James Bachmurski Sr., who owned a farm near Decorah and was dating LaDawn. He had two sons, Bryan (then 19) and James Jr. (then 21).
Local investigators in Winneshiek County, led by Detective Chris Wuebker, found Bryan first. He confirmed Jade had been at the farm after LaDawn dropped her off and left. Bryan and Jade had lunch at a Pizza Ranch and later attended a bonfire where photos show them together. Bryan said the last contact was around midnight after March 30, 2017; when he stopped receiving replies, he assumed she had run off. Detectives initially doubted they were getting the whole story.
Special Agent Jon Turbett, reviewing the farm connections and patterns, concluded the case needed to be treated as a possible homicide. Bachmurski Sr., who later moved to Georgia, agreed to an interview. He admitted LaDawn brought Jade to his property to hide her from foster care and described last seeing her while she was doing laundry and he went to the store. He claimed she “vanished.”
A chance discovery changed the investigation. Neighbors reported that Bachmurski had left the property in a hurry in 2018 and left belongings behind. Investigators searched a barn and found an old cellphone belonging to Bachmurski Sr. The phone contained photos and messages showing Jade at the farm — including images with LaDawn and one of Jade with Bryan at the bonfire — and text exchanges that corroborated Bryan’s timeline. Deleted messages from family members pleading for Jade’s return also appeared, suggesting someone had removed communications.
Two seemingly ordinary photos on the phone became crucial: a picture of a spotless kitchen and a clean bedroom taken days after Jade’s last messages. The condition of the house in those images was inconsistent with how family members had described the property. A later photo from June 5, 2017, showed the same bedroom with a different, larger bed and a return to a messy condition, suggesting furniture had been removed after the earlier images. Investigators concluded evidence might have been cleaned up and removed.
Turbett returned to Georgia for a second interview armed with the phone photos. Bachmurski’s demeanor, explanations and inconsistencies raised suspicions. In that interview, he made remarks including that he had “figured, I’d go to grave before I tell the truth,” which investigators viewed as highly incriminating. Turbett later said the case facts pointed overwhelmingly to Bachmurski Sr. being involved in Jade’s death and disposal.
In August 2024, more than eight years after Jade disappeared, James Bachmurski Sr. was charged with second-degree murder. Prosecutors emphasized that Bachmurski was the last person known to have seen Jade alive, the cellphone photos and deleted messages that pointed to attempts to hide contacts, and his own statements. What they did not have was Jade’s body.
Assistant Iowa Attorney General Scott Brown acknowledged the difficulty of prosecuting without a body: juries typically rely on a recovered body to establish that a crime occurred. The prosecution had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Jade did not leave on her own and that a homicide occurred. The defense argued there was no direct proof Jade was dead: no DNA, no weapon, no body and no definitive digital evidence of a crime. They pointed to her history of running away as an alternate explanation.
At trial in August 2025, prosecutors presented the phone evidence, deleted messages, photos showing a cleaned home and changed bedding, timelines from social media and texts, and Bachmurski’s interview statements. Testimony also included descriptions from earlier court records of Bachmurski’s violent past with his own children, which investigators said LaDawn likely did not know about. The defense highlighted the absence of a body and direct forensic evidence.
After jury deliberations, the jury found Bachmurski Sr. guilty of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison; at 67, the sentence effectively amounted to life behind bars. For Jade’s family, the verdict provided a measure of justice but no closure. Jade’s remains have never been recovered.
Those close to Jade—her aunt Tandra Brus, friend Jamee Koopman, and others—expressed relief at the conviction but continued grief and a desire to find her and bring her home. Detectives and marshals involved said the investigation had been driven by sustained effort over years: following digital leads, pursuing tips, securing and analyzing evidence, and coordinating across agencies. They stressed that while charging and convicting a suspect mattered, locating Jade’s remains remained a priority.
Detective Cheryl Nablo, Detective Chris Wuebker, Special Agent Jon Turbett, Deputy U.S. Marshal Justin Wallace and many others described a committed, painstaking investigation that ultimately produced accountability. Still, family members pleaded for anyone with information to come forward so Jade can be returned to her loved ones and given a proper burial.