Photos discovered on an old cell phone help solve the case of Jade Colvin's disappearance | 48 Hours

Jade Colvin, despite her history of running away, always maintained contact with friends and family via social media. Her complete cessation of all digital communication in March 2017, after being at James Bachmer Sr.'s farm, was the first strong indicator to investigators that her disappearance was not a typical runaway scenario.

Detective Nablo obtained search warrants for Jade's social media accounts and found that all communication stopped abruptly in March 2017.

The discovery of James Bachmer Sr.'s abandoned cell phone in a neighbor's barn provided critical evidence. It contained deleted messages from Jade's family searching for her, last known photos of Jade at the farm, and suspicious photos of Bachmer's unusually clean kitchen and a replaced bed in his bedroom, taken shortly after Jade's disappearance.

Investigators found a 'dusty old phone in a box' from a barn where Bachmer had left belongings. This phone contained deleted family messages, photos of Jade at the farm (including with her mother and at a bonfire), and photos showing a 'cleaned up' kitchen and a replaced bed in his bedroom.

During his first interview, James Bachmer immediately brought up 'something happened in Iowa' and expressed concern about his children being implicated. In a subsequent interview, after being confronted with the cell phone evidence, he feigned drunkenness and memory loss, but ultimately stated, 'I'd go to the grave before I tell the truth about this,' which investigators interpreted as a near-confession.

In the first interview, Bachmer stated, 'A number of years ago something happened in Iowa and it's affected my life forever' and 'All I want to do is to go to my grave to know that my kids had nothing to do what was going on.' In the second interview, when pressed about the photos, he said, 'I'd go to the grave before I tell the truth.'

Despite the absence of Jade Colvin's body, DNA, or a murder weapon, James Bachmer Sr. was convicted of second-degree murder. The prosecution successfully argued that the circumstantial evidence—including Bachmer being the last person to see Jade alive, his failure to report her missing, the suspicious cell phone photos, and his incriminating statements—was sufficient to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Prosecutor Scott Brown stated, 'Jade was at James Bachmer's residence. He was the last person to have seen Jade alive.' He also cited the cell phone photos and Bachmer's 'I'd go to the grave' statement. The jury ultimately found Bachmer guilty of murder in the second degree.