Same questions from me. They all assumed she was “just a runaway,” I find that incredibly sad.
IA IA - Jade Colvin, 14, Ames, 30 April 2016
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Mack the Knife
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Even if she was “just a runaway,” this is not how the situation should be handled, IMO (not to imply you’re saying otherwise). Minors aren’t allowed to just go off by themselves and law enforcement should be interested in locating them regardless of if the child ran away.
In this case, if her phone records were looked at, investigators would have seen that Jade had some sort of secret “relationship” with this adult man, whatever that means. That should surely be cause for alarm. And of course despite her family reporting her missing in Des Moines, the Sheriff’s Department in the county she was last seen in apparently didn’t find out she was missing for 5 more years, in 2022.
Two obvious failures that shouldn’t happen even for intentional runaways.
Parents didn’t have custody, neither mom or dad reported her missing: Jade Colvin's friend reacts to murder arrest, new details revealed
And this one mentions her phone not working while in Iowa: Complaint: Decorah farmer engaged in ‘electronic messaging’ with teen before her death
I think it may be awhile before MSN picks up the full story.
And this one mentions her phone not working while in Iowa: Complaint: Decorah farmer engaged in ‘electronic messaging’ with teen before her death
I think it may be awhile before MSN picks up the full story.
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This poor girl. Who had custody of her? I can't read that article due to my region.
It’s not saying.
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Okay, thanks anyway. I hope there will be justice for her, if she was harmed.
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Jade Colvin's friend reacts to murder arrest, new details revealed
DECORAH (KWWL) -- A new criminal complaint outlines what led to the disappearance of Jade Colvin, and the arrest of James Bachmurski seven years later.
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rbbm
kchanews.com
''Authorities say Bachmurski had been in a relationship with Colvin via electronic messaging for about 20 days before she went to stay at his home. During an interview with law enforcement in 2023, officials said Bachmurski was shown an image of Colvin taken several days before her death and was asked if he remembered it. He allegedly responded, “I do. I’m not gonna lie, I do. As a matter of fact, I’ll guarantee you I’m getting myself in a lot of trouble. I want to tell you the truth.”
Law enforcement said numerous statements by Bachmurski and others implicated him in Colvin’s disappearance and death. That included his son Bryan, who told investigators he saw Colvin’s empty suitcase at his father’s farmhouse, where her bedroom was also empty.''
More Details Available in Northeast Iowa Cold Case Murder of 15-Year-Old - KCHA News
The man accused of murdering a teenager, last seen in northeast Iowa in 2017, may have had a “relati
kchanews.com
Law enforcement said numerous statements by Bachmurski and others implicated him in Colvin’s disappearance and death. That included his son Bryan, who told investigators he saw Colvin’s empty suitcase at his father’s farmhouse, where her bedroom was also empty.''
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Updated Aug 16, 2024
of Disappearance
Jade was reported missing by law enforcement from Des Moines, Iowa on June 10, 2016. The last time she had contact with her loved ones was nine months later, on March 30, 2017. They never heard from her again.In August 2024, James David Bachmurski was charged with Jade's murder. Authorities stated that they had been messaging each other online and he arranged for her to come to his farm in Decorah, Iowa. Jade's phone didn't have service, so she used Bachmurski's phone to send text messages. His adult son, who at one point lived at the residence while Jade was there, noticed that after she had gone her suitcase was still there, empty.
Bachmurski told people that Jade had left his home after her last text and he did not know her whereabouts. Police, however, believe he killed her on the same day as her last text. He has been charged with second-degree murder and is in jail awaiting trial. A photo of him is posted with this case summary.
Bachmurski has a criminal record; he pleaded guilty to harassment, assault and child endangerment in 2012 and admitted he had abused his children, at one point tying a teenager to a chair and shocking them with a cattle prod, and that he had threatened his children's lives with guns. He faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted in Jade's death.
Jade has a history of running away. She has ties to the Iowa cities of Des Moines and Dubuque, and to Phoenix, Arizona, and she had lived in Texas prior to moving to Iowa. Foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved.
Nothing more about Jade, a tiny bit more info about the suspect:
www.driftlessjournal.com
Former Decorah man charged in 2017 murder - Decorah Leader
A former Decorah man is accused of murdering a teenage girl in March of 2017. James David Bachmurski, of Swainsboro, Georgia, was extradited to Winneshiek County in June, following what authorities called a lengthy cold case investigation which spanned multiple states. The 65-year-old has been...
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Aug 13 '24 rbbm
people.com
''According to property records obtained by Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Bachmurski previously owned more than 400 acres of land near his home and operated a corn maze.
He is currently being held at the Winneshiek County Jail without bond.''
''But nearly a year later, on March 23, 2017, she was reported missing to the Des Moines Police Department and added to the Missing Person Information Clearinghouse, a week before her last known communication. It's not clear why she was reported missing to a police department more than 200 miles away from Bachmurski’s farm or why the report was made before her last known contact.''
Man Charged with Murder of 15-Year-Old Girl Who Vanished in 2017
The teen girl was allegedly brought from Arizona to Iowa by her mother to live on the suspect's farm, police say
''According to property records obtained by Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Bachmurski previously owned more than 400 acres of land near his home and operated a corn maze.
He is currently being held at the Winneshiek County Jail without bond.''
''But nearly a year later, on March 23, 2017, she was reported missing to the Des Moines Police Department and added to the Missing Person Information Clearinghouse, a week before her last known communication. It's not clear why she was reported missing to a police department more than 200 miles away from Bachmurski’s farm or why the report was made before her last known contact.''
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It says her mother drove her there, and the only reason I personally can think a mother would do this is so that she (the mother) would at least know where her daughter staying. Speculation only.
This leaves me wondering, how many hours was the drive? Why didn't her mother or any other relative see this situation as a crime and report it immediately? Why didn't anyone ever drive back over there to check on how she was doing there (if they didn't)?
I am sure her family has their own story to tell. It's just such an unusual and suspicious situation...
This leaves me wondering, how many hours was the drive? Why didn't her mother or any other relative see this situation as a crime and report it immediately? Why didn't anyone ever drive back over there to check on how she was doing there (if they didn't)?
I am sure her family has their own story to tell. It's just such an unusual and suspicious situation...
Mack the Knife
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Welp this makes it clear to me that they didn’t really look into Jade’s disappearance. Teenager is reported missing and the last place she was known to be living was with a non-familial felon who’d plead guilty to abusing his children in…creatively violent ways. And then a year later this felon who was the last person to see a missing child was found violating his probation by possessing a firearm.''KWWL obtained physical copies of previous charges from James Bachmurski today from 2012, when he pleaded guilty to harassment, assault and child endangerment. In the criminal complaints from those charges, Bachmurski admits to physically harming his children repeatedly as a means of punishment, including at one point binding a teen to a metal chair and electrocuting him with a cattle energizer. Also in the complaints- his children state he would repeatedly threaten them with guns on the property- stating if he killed them 'no one would know.'Jade Colvin's friend reacts to murder arrest, new details revealed
DECORAH (KWWL) -- A new criminal complaint outlines what led to the disappearance of Jade Colvin, and the arrest of James Bachmurski seven years later.www.wxow.com
And presumably none of those things were connected by law enforcement, otherwise they would have investigated him earlier. Either option is a failure.
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James David Bachmurski is accused of killing 15-year-old Jade Colvin, who was reported missing to the Des Moines Police Department on June 10, 2016. Investigators believe Colvin was at Bachmurski’s rural home south of Decorah in March of 2017 — her last known contact with her family occurred on March 23, 2017, according to information from the U.S. Justice Department’s Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
Bachmurski was charged with second-degree murder in August of 2024, and had at one point been scheduled to go to trial on Dec. 4, 2024. However, the 65-year-old’s defense attorney filed a motion in November, seeking a subpoena for a report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and other materials related to an alleged sighting of Colvin in August of 2021 — more than four years after the alleged murder — in the city of Harvey, Illinois. Colvin would have been 19-years-old at that time.
Bachmurski’s trial was since been rescheduled for mid-March of 2025
Bachmurski was charged with second-degree murder in August of 2024, and had at one point been scheduled to go to trial on Dec. 4, 2024. However, the 65-year-old’s defense attorney filed a motion in November, seeking a subpoena for a report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and other materials related to an alleged sighting of Colvin in August of 2021 — more than four years after the alleged murder — in the city of Harvey, Illinois. Colvin would have been 19-years-old at that time.
Bachmurski’s trial was since been rescheduled for mid-March of 2025
#1 Story of 2024: 2017 cold case saw 2024 arrest - Decorah Leader
News of a local murder investigation reached the public’s ears once prosecutors made headway filing additional charges following an arrest in 2024. A former Decorah man was extradited from Georgia, after federal investigators informed the local sheriff’s office the man may have been involved in...
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Defense attorneys filed a motion in response last week, saying their client does not wish to change the current trial date, adding the man is entitled to a trial no later than Aug. 29 — the trial was most recently scheduled for Monday, Aug. 4.
Information released by the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office in August of 2024 said Colvin’s mother brought the teen to Iowa from Arizona to live with Bachmurski at his rural Decorah residence in the early spring of 2017. A criminal complaint filed against Bachmurski claimed he had “encouraged and participated in a one-on-one relationship with Jade Colvin via electronic messaging” without the mother’s knowledge for approximately a month before Colvin arrived in Decorah, and Bachmurski allegedly “used some of his own money to facilitate Jade Colvin being brought to his residence in March of 2017.”
The teenager had planned to contact friends after arriving in Iowa, according to court documents, but her phone was said to have reception issues at that time, and Bachmurski claimed he allowed Colvin to use his phone.
“The messages sent by Jade Colvin from the defendant’s cell phone during the early morning hours of March 30, 2017 were the last messages ever known to be received by any person,” a criminal complaint said.
Information released by the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office in August of 2024 said Colvin’s mother brought the teen to Iowa from Arizona to live with Bachmurski at his rural Decorah residence in the early spring of 2017. A criminal complaint filed against Bachmurski claimed he had “encouraged and participated in a one-on-one relationship with Jade Colvin via electronic messaging” without the mother’s knowledge for approximately a month before Colvin arrived in Decorah, and Bachmurski allegedly “used some of his own money to facilitate Jade Colvin being brought to his residence in March of 2017.”
The teenager had planned to contact friends after arriving in Iowa, according to court documents, but her phone was said to have reception issues at that time, and Bachmurski claimed he allowed Colvin to use his phone.
“The messages sent by Jade Colvin from the defendant’s cell phone during the early morning hours of March 30, 2017 were the last messages ever known to be received by any person,” a criminal complaint said.
Prosecutors hope to uncover new digital evidence in upcoming murder case
James David Bachmurski, age 66, faces a charge of second-degree murder for the death of 15-year-old Jade Marie Colvin.
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Multiple trial witnesses testified Colvin’s mother LaDawn struggled with mental health and substance abuse, and she lost custody of her children around 2015. Colvin was placed in foster care by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, and she was shown to have run away multiple times that year and the next. She was living with relatives in Arizona as of 2016, according to trial testimony, while her mother was residing with Bachmurski — evidence indicated he and Colvin’s mother were in a relationship. A court eventually restored custody rights out of concern for the wellbeing of her teenage daughter, according to former Iowa DHHS employee Jessica Lundy. The mother then travelled to Arizona to bring her teenage daughter back to Iowa, where she was to stay with Bachmurski at his farm near Decorah.
Colvin disappeared within a matter of days.
“This happened so fast, and then after it happened, I figured they used me for a patsy,” Bachmurski later told investigators in a recorded interview presented at trial.
Bachmurski’s defense attempted to introduce documents during Thursday’s proceedings which indicated Colvin’s mother — who died in December of 2019 — allegedly knew her daughter’s whereabouts after the teen’s time in Decorah. That evidence was ruled inadmissible for reasons related to hearsay. However, Lundy was able to comment on how trustworthy she found Colvin’s mother.
“It was hard to know what was truth and what wasn’t with LaDawn,” Lundy said. “I would say, no, that I could not rely on what she was giving me.”
Lundy went on to say she herself and, to the best of her knowledge, any other DHHS official had contact with Colvin after March 30, 2017 — the date which investigators said the teen sent her last known electronic message.
Bachmurski’s attorneys introduced evidence Friday of what they said was Colvin’s plan to disappear. The handwritten note included phrases such as “Use phone calls if possible. Once gone, do not get on Facebook no matter what.”
Shane Flesher, an investigator with the State Public Defender’s Office, said previous reports from the law enforcement in central Iowa mentioned Colvin’s alleged plan, which he found to be of interest.
“I think it’s interesting that the plan by Jade is to get away and hide, to not be seen, to stay off the computer, stay off social media — essentially disappear, hide and get a new social security number,” Flesher said.
www.decorahleader.com
Colvin disappeared within a matter of days.
“This happened so fast, and then after it happened, I figured they used me for a patsy,” Bachmurski later told investigators in a recorded interview presented at trial.
Bachmurski’s defense attempted to introduce documents during Thursday’s proceedings which indicated Colvin’s mother — who died in December of 2019 — allegedly knew her daughter’s whereabouts after the teen’s time in Decorah. That evidence was ruled inadmissible for reasons related to hearsay. However, Lundy was able to comment on how trustworthy she found Colvin’s mother.
“It was hard to know what was truth and what wasn’t with LaDawn,” Lundy said. “I would say, no, that I could not rely on what she was giving me.”
Lundy went on to say she herself and, to the best of her knowledge, any other DHHS official had contact with Colvin after March 30, 2017 — the date which investigators said the teen sent her last known electronic message.
Bachmurski’s attorneys introduced evidence Friday of what they said was Colvin’s plan to disappear. The handwritten note included phrases such as “Use phone calls if possible. Once gone, do not get on Facebook no matter what.”
Shane Flesher, an investigator with the State Public Defender’s Office, said previous reports from the law enforcement in central Iowa mentioned Colvin’s alleged plan, which he found to be of interest.
“I think it’s interesting that the plan by Jade is to get away and hide, to not be seen, to stay off the computer, stay off social media — essentially disappear, hide and get a new social security number,” Flesher said.
State rests, defense calls first witness in Bachmurski murder case - Enterprise Media
Update – Aug. 29, 2025: This story has been updated to include additional testimony heard during Friday’s court proceedings. State attorneys prosecuting the case against a former Decorah man accused of killing a young girl in 2017 rested their case on Thursday. The trail against James David...
www.decorahleader.com
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I think this might be one of the most baffling cases I've ever followed. There doesn't seem to be a shred of evidence that Jade was murdered. I still think Colvin’s mother had the answers, unfortunate that we'll never know.
decorahnews.com
Bachmurski Found Guilty of the Murder of Jade Colvin
This story will be updated throughout the day with new information about the trial
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