In June 2016, 14-year-old Jade Colvin ran away from a shelter in Des Moines. Detective Cheryl Nablo, who specializes in missing children, joined a multiagency effort that eventually grew into a cold-case investigation adopted by the U.S. Marshals Service under Operation Homecoming. A team including Deputy U.S. Marshal Justin Wallace, Detective Chris Wuebker and Special Agent Jon Turbett followed leads for years searching for answers.
Jade’s early life was turbulent. Her parents, LaDawn and Kevin, struggled with substance abuse, and LaDawn lost custody in September 2015. Jade resisted foster placements and ran away repeatedly; LaDawn sometimes sheltered her, arranging stays with friends and family. Despite these hardships, relatives and friends remembered Jade as upbeat and easygoing.
Family members posted appeals online for years. LaDawn repeatedly pleaded for help finding her daughter; she died a year after Jade disappeared without ever hearing from her. Investigators canvassed social media, circulated posters across Iowa, and followed tips from around the country, including an unconfirmed sighting at a Minnesota hospital.
A breakthrough came after detectives obtained search warrants for social media accounts belonging to Jade and LaDawn. Instagram messages from March 2017 suggested Jade had been in Arizona and that LaDawn planned to bring her back to Iowa. LaDawn’s Facebook posts referred to Decorah, a small northeast Iowa town, and mentioned a man named James. Investigators identified him as James Bachmurski Sr., who owned a farm near Decorah and was romantically involved with LaDawn. He had two adult sons, Bryan and James Jr.
Local Winneshiek County investigators, led by Detective Wuebker, located Bryan first. He confirmed that LaDawn had dropped Jade at the farm and that Jade had been seen there: the two had lunch together and later attended a bonfire where photos captured them side by side. Bryan said his last contact with Jade came around midnight on March 30, 2017; when messages ceased, he assumed she had run off. Detectives suspected there was more to the story.
Special Agent Turbett, analyzing the pattern of evidence and the farm connections, recommended treating the case as a possible homicide. Bachmurski Sr., who later moved to Georgia, agreed to be interviewed and said LaDawn had hidden Jade at his property to keep her from the foster system. He claimed he last saw Jade doing laundry before he went to the store and that she then disappeared.
A pivotal development arrived when neighbors reported that Bachmurski had abruptly left the farm in 2018, leaving belongings behind. Investigators found an old cellphone in a barn that belonged to him. The device contained photos and messages placing Jade at the farm — including images of Jade with LaDawn and with Bryan at the bonfire — and text threads matching Bryan’s timeline. Deleted messages from family members pleading for Jade’s return also appeared on the phone, indicating possible deliberate erasure of communications.
Two seemingly routine photos on the phone proved especially significant: one showed a spotless kitchen and another a tidy bedroom taken days after Jade’s last messages. Family descriptions of the property conflicted with the immaculate rooms in those images. A later photo from June 5, 2017, showed the same bedroom with different, larger bedding and a return to a messy state, suggesting furniture or items had been moved or removed between those dates. Investigators concluded someone might have cleaned and altered the property to conceal evidence.
Turbett returned to Georgia for another interview armed with the phone images. Investigators said Bachmurski’s demeanor and inconsistent explanations, along with remarks such as “I’d go to the grave before I tell the truth,” increased their suspicion. Turbett later said the totality of the evidence pointed strongly to Bachmurski Sr.’s involvement in Jade’s presumed death and disposal.
In August 2024, more than eight years after Jade vanished, prosecutors charged James Bachmurski Sr. with second-degree murder. The case relied on circumstantial but compelling evidence: he was the last known person to have seen Jade, the cellphone photos and deleted messages suggested attempts to hide contacts, and his own statements undermined his account. Prosecutors acknowledged they did not have Jade’s body.
Assistant Iowa Attorney General Scott Brown noted the challenge of proving a homicide without a body; juries often depend on a recovered body to establish that a death occurred. The prosecution had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Jade did not voluntarily leave and that a homicide took place. The defense emphasized the absence of direct forensic evidence — no DNA, no weapon, no body — and pointed to Jade’s history of running away as a possible explanation.
At trial in August 2025, prosecutors presented the phone evidence, deleted messages, photos showing the cleaned rooms and changed bedding, timelines from social media and text messages, and Bachmurski’s interview remarks. Testimony also included prior records describing Bachmurski’s violent behavior toward his own children, which investigators said LaDawn may not have known about. The defense reiterated the lack of a body or definitive physical proof of a crime.
After deliberation, the jury found Bachmurski Sr. guilty of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison; at age 67, the term effectively amounts to life imprisonment. For Jade’s family, the verdict brought some measure of accountability but not closure: her remains have never been recovered.
Relatives and friends, including Jade’s aunt and close companions, expressed relief at the conviction while continuing to grieve and press for answers. Investigators and marshals involved in the case emphasized that persistent, coordinated work across agencies — following digital leads, pursuing tips, securing and analyzing evidence — made the prosecution possible. They also stressed that locating Jade’s remains remains a priority and urged anyone with information to come forward so she can be returned to her family for a proper burial.