Georgia man faces murder count in Winneshiek County cold case

A Georgia man was charged Monday with second-degree murder in a rural Winneshiek County cold case after a 15-year-old girl who was brought by her mother from Arizona to live on the man’s Iowa farm went missing in 2017 two days after she arrived.

James David Bachmurski, 65, of Emanuel County, Georgia, is charged in the death of Jade Marie Colvin, according to a Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office news release. A criminal complaint that would outline more details of the investigation wasn’t filed online as of Monday evening.

Bachmurski previously was extradited from Georgia to Winneshiek County on a probation violation warrant for firearm crimes, the news release stated. He remained in the county jail without bail Monday.

Bachmurski was charged in the killing following a “lengthy” cold case investigation led by the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office with the assistance of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Polk County investigators and Winneshiek County Attorney’s Office.

In early spring 2017, Colvin was brought to Bachmurski’s farm in rural southern Winneshiek County, according to the sheriff’s news release. The Sheriff’s Office didn’t explain the relationship between the girl’s mother and Bachmurski.

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But it was not until May 2022 that the Sheriff’s Office was made aware that the U.S. Marshals Service, working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, had learned that Colvin had not been seen or heard from since two days after her arrival at the farm in 2017. Upon receiving the information, the Sheriff’s Office “immediately” launched a full-scale investigation, the news release said.

A multi-agency investigation spanning several states and lasting more than two years led to the arrest of Bachmurski as being the murder suspect in the cold case.

The case remains an active investigation with the possibility of additional charges and arrests, the news release states.

If convicted, Bachmurski faces up to 50 years in prison.

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