Seven Years After Teen Went Missing in Northeast Iowa, Suspect Charged with Her Murder

Over seven years after a teenage girl was last seen or heard from, a Georgia man has been accused of murdering her.

The Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) says a lengthy cold-case investigation has resulted in the arrest of 65-year-old James Bachmurski on a charge of second-degree murder, a Class B felony. 

A media release Monday (08.12) says that in early spring 2017, 15-year-old Jade Marie Colvin was brought from Arizona to Iowa by her mother to live at the Bachmurski farm in rural southern Winneshiek County. Five years later, in May 2022, the WCSO was first made aware by the U.S. Marshals Service, working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, that Jade had not been seen or heard from since two days after her arrival at the Bachmurski farm in 2017. 

WCSO then immediately launched a full-scale, multi-agency investigation that spanned over two-year years and several states, with the facts of the case pointing to Bachmurski being responsible for murdering the girl. 

Bachmurski was previously extradited from Emanuel County Jail in Georgia to Winneshiek County on a probation violation arrest warrant for firearm crimes. With the murder charge, Bachmurski is now being held without bond in the Winneshiek County Jail.

WCSO adds that the case remains an open and active investigation with the possibility of additional charges and arrests. No other details of this case will be released at this time.

The Iowa DCI, Polk County Cyber Audit and JFACT, and Winneshiek County Attorney’s Office assisted with the investigation.