Was Jade Colvin seen alive after authorities say she was killed?

DECORAH — Attorneys for a former Decorah man charged with killing a missing teen in 2017 said there was a reported sighting of the girl alive years after her alleged death.

Now lawyers representing 65-year-old James David Bachmurski want to know more about a tip given to the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children about the possible whereabouts of Jade Marie Colvin.

Jade was 14 when she was reported missing in June 2016. Earlier this year, authorities arrested Bachmurski for second-degree murder, alleging he killed her on March 30, 2017, after she moved into his farm in rural Decorah.

On Nov. 18, Bachmurski’s defense asked the court to subpoena information surrounding a lead the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received in August 2021 indicating Jade was spotted in Harvey, Ill., on Aug. 12, 2021.

Harvey is a city of 20,000 people in the Chicago metro area and was the scene of the mall police chase in 1980’s “The Blues Brothers” movie.

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Defense attorneys would like to know the circumstances of the sighting, if there was any follow-up investigation on the tip and if there was any surveillance video.

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“The information is believed to be exculpatory. Due diligence and the duty of zealous representation requires that defense counsel follow up and fully investigate this potentially exculpatory information,” defense attorney Les Blair wrote in his request.

Judge Laura Parrish approved the subpoena.

Authorities have declined to disclose whether Jade’s remains have been found. She still is listed as missing with the state of Iowa. Her listing was removed from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website in recent weeks.

Bachmurski sold his Decorah property and moved in 2018. He later relocated to rural Swainsboro, Ga.,

A trial for Bachmurski is tentatively set for March at the Winneshiek County Courthouse.