A complaint made public Tuesday provides more details about what happened to a teenager who went missing from an Iowa farm when she was 14 and ended up — authorities now say — being killed by a Georgia man in 2017.
James David Bachmurski (Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office)
The complaint, filed in Winneshiek County District Court, doesn’t say how authorities believe Jade Marie Colvin, who was 15 when she died, was killed by James David Bachmurski, 65, now of Swainsboro, Ga. He faces a charge of second-degree murder in Colvin’s death. But the complaint doesn’t say if authorities have found her body.
Bachmurski previously was extradited from Georgia to Winneshiek County on a probation violation warrant for firearm crimes, a Sheriff’s Office news release stated. He remains in the county jail under a $1 million cash-only bail following his initial appearance Tuesday. A preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 20.
According to a complaint, the U.S. Marshals Service in May 2022 contacted the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office about a missing person — Colvin — who marshals believe was brought to the county. The Sheriff’s Office, along with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Winneshiek County Attorney’s Office, launched an investigation.
Jade Marie Colvin is shown in an undated photo in a missing persons flyer issued by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. (Photo courtesy of Iowa DCI)
Earlier, on June 10, 2016, Colvin, who was 14 then, initially had been reported as missing to the Des Moines Police Department. The complaint does not elaborate on why that report was made in Des Moines or what led to it.
Through the investigation, the complaint states, it was determined the teen was brought to Bachmurski’s farm at 2057 Skyline View Dr. near Decorah from Arizona by her mother in March 2017, after the teen turned 15.
The investigation revealed Bachmurski had “encouraged and participated” in a relationship with Colvin through “electronic messaging” for about 30 days prior to her coming to his farm. Bachmurksi told authorities the teen’s mother didn’t know about his messaging with her daughter. Bachmurski also said he used some of his own money to bring Colvin to his farm, the complaint said.
When he was shown a photo of Colvin, taken several days before her death, Bachmurski told law enforcement he remembered that photo, stating “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.”
According to the complaint, witness interviews and records showed Colvin had “extensive” conversations with friends her age and they planned to communicate “immediately” after she arrived at the farm in late March 2017.
Bachmurski told investigators Colvin’s cellphone didn’t have service when she arrived in Iowa and she was “cut off from the world,” the complaint stated. In the early morning of March 30, 2017, Colvin was using Bachmurski’s cellphone, which he had allowed.
He said she wouldn’t have used it without his permission or knowledge because he would have “quickly” discovered it. They were the only individuals at his residence that day, he told investigators.
The messages sent by Colvin from Bachmurski’s cellphone that day were the last messages ever sent by her, according to the complaint. Since that day, Colvin has never spoken with her family or friends and has “never been seen or heard from again.”
Bachmurski told investigators he wasn’t aware of Colvin knowing anyone else in Iowa or in the area of his farm. He said the teen never asked for a ride to see anybody.
Bachmurski said he thought about contacting law enforcement during Colvin’s stay with him but alerting authorities he had a “runaway” girl in his home wouldn’t have “turned out good for him,” according to the complaint.
Interviews and other case information provided evidence Bachmurski was the last person with Colvin, according to the complaint. Other interviews with Bachmurski and others who were associated with him or had contact with the teen revealed that Bachmurski made “numerous” statements to several people, including investigators, that implicated himself in the “disappearance and death” of Colvin, the complaint states.
Bachmurski, according to the complaint, made other false and contradictory statements to others, including to his son, Bryan Bachmurski, throughout the investigation.
Bryan Bachmurski confirmed Colvin came to the farm in March 2017, the complaint stated. He saw a travel bag or suitcase, as well as other items belonging to the teen in the farmhouse a few months after Colvin had disappeared. He said the travel bag or suitcase was empty at that time.
The son found it in his father’s bedroom and Colvin’s room was empty.
The investigation concluded that Bachmurski caused the death of Colvin on or about March 30, 2017, the complaint stated.
The Gazette asked the Sheriff’s Office if authorities would say how they believed Colvin was killed or if they had recovered her body. Christina Goeden, an office deputy, in an email said the office would not be releasing further details of the case.
According to the news release Monday, the case remains active with the possibility of additional charges and arrests. If convicted, Bachmurski faces up to 50 years in prison.
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The complaint, filed in Winneshiek County District Court, doesn’t say how authorities believe Jade Marie Colvin, who was 15 when she died, was killed by James David Bachmurski, 65, now of Swainsboro, Ga. He faces a charge of second-degree murder in Colvin’s death. But the complaint doesn’t say if authorities have found her body.
Bachmurski previously was extradited from Georgia to Winneshiek County on a probation violation warrant for firearm crimes, a Sheriff’s Office news release stated. He remains in the county jail under a $1 million cash-only bail following his initial appearance Tuesday. A preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 20.
According to a complaint, the U.S. Marshals Service in May 2022 contacted the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office about a missing person — Colvin — who marshals believe was brought to the county. The Sheriff’s Office, along with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Winneshiek County Attorney’s Office, launched an investigation.
Earlier, on June 10, 2016, Colvin, who was 14 then, initially had been reported as missing to the Des Moines Police Department. The complaint does not elaborate on why that report was made in Des Moines or what led to it.
Through the investigation, the complaint states, it was determined the teen was brought to Bachmurski’s farm at 2057 Skyline View Dr. near Decorah from Arizona by her mother in March 2017, after the teen turned 15.
The investigation revealed Bachmurski had “encouraged and participated” in a relationship with Colvin through “electronic messaging” for about 30 days prior to her coming to his farm. Bachmurksi told authorities the teen’s mother didn’t know about his messaging with her daughter. Bachmurski also said he used some of his own money to bring Colvin to his farm, the complaint said.
When he was shown a photo of Colvin, taken several days before her death, Bachmurski told law enforcement he remembered that photo, stating “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.”
According to the complaint, witness interviews and records showed Colvin had “extensive” conversations with friends her age and they planned to communicate “immediately” after she arrived at the farm in late March 2017.
Bachmurski told investigators Colvin’s cellphone didn’t have service when she arrived in Iowa and she was “cut off from the world,” the complaint stated. In the early morning of March 30, 2017, Colvin was using Bachmurski’s cellphone, which he had allowed.
He said she wouldn’t have used it without his permission or knowledge because he would have “quickly” discovered it. They were the only individuals at his residence that day, he told investigators.
The messages sent by Colvin from Bachmurski’s cellphone that day were the last messages ever sent by her, according to the complaint. Since that day, Colvin has never spoken with her family or friends and has “never been seen or heard from again.”
Bachmurski told investigators he wasn’t aware of Colvin knowing anyone else in Iowa or in the area of his farm. He said the teen never asked for a ride to see anybody.
Bachmurski said he thought about contacting law enforcement during Colvin’s stay with him but alerting authorities he had a “runaway” girl in his home wouldn’t have “turned out good for him,” according to the complaint.
Interviews and other case information provided evidence Bachmurski was the last person with Colvin, according to the complaint. Other interviews with Bachmurski and others who were associated with him or had contact with the teen revealed that Bachmurski made “numerous” statements to several people, including investigators, that implicated himself in the “disappearance and death” of Colvin, the complaint states.
Bachmurski, according to the complaint, made other false and contradictory statements to others, including to his son, Bryan Bachmurski, throughout the investigation.
Bryan Bachmurski confirmed Colvin came to the farm in March 2017, the complaint stated. He saw a travel bag or suitcase, as well as other items belonging to the teen in the farmhouse a few months after Colvin had disappeared. He said the travel bag or suitcase was empty at that time.
The son found it in his father’s bedroom and Colvin’s room was empty.
The investigation concluded that Bachmurski caused the death of Colvin on or about March 30, 2017, the complaint stated.
The Gazette asked the Sheriff’s Office if authorities would say how they believed Colvin was killed or if they had recovered her body. Christina Goeden, an office deputy, in an email said the office would not be releasing further details of the case.
According to the news release Monday, the case remains active with the possibility of additional charges and arrests. If convicted, Bachmurski faces up to 50 years in prison.
Complaint: Decorah farmer engaged in ‘electronic messaging’ with teen before her death
A Winneshiek County complaint, made public Tuesday, sheds a little more light on a 2017 homicide of a teen in Decorah, but doesn’t explain how a Georgia man killed her or if authorities have recovered a body. The suspect, who lived near Decorah in 2017, was charged with second-degree murder.
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