Jade Colvin is Missing

Also, on the product market, you will find your next step or your first big enterprise.

“With KaE, the development of the online market, also the advantages of the companies.”

And that is, before you go to the question. Where the team, like security and compliance, is really worth it. It is much easier to wait for, but it is almost out. That is why many startups are happy, and wait for the owner. And if it is not, it is still not worth it.

Yet, start an Alfanta.com. We are looking for this missing girl. Her name is Jade Colvin. She was the sweet little ray of sunshine. She is an angel, adult. This is a cold case that could just sit there and no one let it. Jade went missing June 10th of 2016.

At the time, she was 14 years old. But she comes off as much older. She is super cool, super smart, so interesting. This one, tugged at my heartstrings. We have families, we have kids, some of us have daughters.

“You don't get to go home and turn off Jade Colvin.”

There are so many people that were involved in this. We need detective, special agent. Deputy U.S. Marshall. I met detective, everybody came together to figure out what happened at Jade. I first met her through one of my best friends.

And we were inseparable from that moment.

We just always had a dumb good time wherever we were.

She loved doing her hair, she was really great at colors. She was very artsy, had great style. They were just like sisters. I don't think Jade had an easy life. Her mama disappeared for periods of time.

She was put in foster care, Jade just really hated it. She ran away. She kind of went from state to state, place to place. It was just hard to keep up with where she was. But she always, always, always just wouldn't check in.

And then one random day, just nothing ever again. Weeks went by, then it's months, then it's years. Once I was assigned this case, every trace of her was gone. When we initially adopted the case, she had been listed as runaway.

“How do you know at this point is this a runaway or is this somebody took her?”

We didn't know. Jade's digital footprint last landed in decor Iowa. Really remote area that she did not know.

She was there for several days and was never seen again.

The last place Jade was living was here. Absolutely. The house was straight on this driveway. There's a lot of places to look for a young girl here. I mean, where did you even begin?

It's a needle in a haystack, I said. Who are the last people that were around her? Who lived in the same house or who was at the same place? We don't know where loyalty is and alliance is lying at this point. We got a lot of tips.

From Massachusetts to Oklahoma to Texas to Minnesota. My goal was always like, oh, we're going to find this girl. That was the hope every day. We never forgot about her. I'm just always wondered where she was.

It was afraid something bad had happened.

I would've never been a million years thought it would come to this.

Natalie Morales reports, Jade COVID is missing. Why is that not going on? I myself have bought a change several times. There we go. When not at work, you get to do the eggs.

I think of my own children. If you went a day not knowing where one of your kids was at, very careful. You'd go crazy. Cheryl Nabilo, mother of three, is a detective with a Des Moines Iowa Police Department.

She specializes in finding missing kids. Nobody wants to be living in a world where they don't know where their kid is. Or if their kids safe. In 2022, Detective Nabilo joined forces with Deputy U.S. Marshall Justin Wallace, Detective Chris Weppger and Special Agent John Turbett in the search for Jade Colvin.

Jade was 14 when she was reported missing in June 2016. After she ran away from a local shelter for troubled youth. We are here to locate kids who ran away.

to find missing children called Operation Homecoming.

“What are the challenges in finding missing children?”

When somebody goes missing, they want to be missing. They don't want you to know where they are. It's hard to track them down. At that point, Jade had been missing for more than five years. Where do you begin?

You've got to start at the beginning. You've got to know who the person is. Their friends, their family, their whole background. And they soon discovered Jade had a troubled childhood. Jade had a rough goal of it growing up. Things weren't the easiest for her.

Detective Nabilo learned Jade's mother, Ladon, had died three years after Jade went missing.

So I couldn't just reach out to her and talk to her about everything that she knew about Jade. Jade's father, Kevin, had lost contact with his daughter. Both parents had struggled with substance abuse. Something special agent John Turbett explained had an impact on Jade.

“Jade called and grew up with, I think, a pretty dysfunctional family situation.”

It was difficult. She didn't hold any of it. She just accepted it for, like, what it was and dealt with it. And didn't let it get to her negatively. Loved her to death. Spend every day together.

Despite everything, friend Dainland Greer and her mother, Jamie Coopman described Jade as easy going and upbeat.

There was reason she could have been angry and she wasn't like she was very light and bubbly.

I met her mom, her mom was very unreliable, but she kept telling me all how much she loves Jade and all that, you know, and I believe she didn't get me wrong. But she just couldn't make the choice for stability. She couldn't overcome her own demons. Her mom definitely cared about her.

I think her mother loved her. The state determined at some point that she was not able to care for her. In September 2015, when Jade was 13, the Iowa Department of Human Services stepped in and deputy Justin Wallace says, "Ladan lost custody." That's when they took Jade into foster care.

For the next nine months, Jade was in and out of different facilities and foster care. And she often ran away. Runaway been found. Runaway been found several times. Jade is doing what some other kids do.

She's running away from the system. She's not wanting to be placed in a stranger's home. When Jade was placed in foster care, LaDan would have limited access to her. And she wanted more.

She wanted Jade to live with her. But without legal custody, Jamie Coopman says LaDan resorted to trying to hide her daughter from authorities.

“I think she was just trying to hide out to stay with her mom or to stay where her mom could visit.”

Her mom tried to keep her out of the police spotlight. Just trying to hide her out different places. And according to her aunt, Sandra Bruce, Jade became good at hiding. She would change her hair, she would change her appearance. She really knew how to run away and hide.

She did. She really did. At that point, Jade was caught in the middle of a mother trying to do her best. Who arranged stays with friends and family. And being placed in foster care, but often living as a runaway. I felt so bad. I felt horrible.

Did you tell her you can come here any time? I did call me whatever you need. I did call me and I'll be here for you. She was jumping all over for a while. So it's hard to track her.

The Iowa Department of Human Services lost track of Jade after she ran away from that shelter in June 2016. I had hoped that she was out there somewhere and she would get a hold of somebody eventually. And then there is nothing. Investigators learned Jade's family and friends spent years searching for her online. We saw in social media accounts that friends and family were trying to reach out to her and continue to look for her.

Everybody is reaching out to her at her birthday scene. We love you. We miss you. We just want you back home. Every year I'd go on Facebook. I can't be birthday, Jade. Please call me. We still love her. Anytime she wants to come home, it doesn't matter what kind of trouble you got yourself into. Thought she'd pop back up. We just wanted her to know. Like we were there for her. According to Deputy Justin Wallace, Jade's mother, Ladan, also posted.

Post like this one from September 2018, it's hurting all of us so much. Please call someone Jade.

“I'm seriously physically dying of a broken heart.”

There was no response to any of those. And when Jade's mother died a year later, there was still no response.

Ladan passed away. She never came to the funeral. She never showed up at the funeral. She would have been there.

Jade's family and friends still held hope. Jade would surface when she turned 18 and would be free of foster care. I had hoped a shitter in a way was laying low and we thought when she turned 18 when it was safe, she would get a hold of us again. And when her 18th birthday came around and she didn't get a hold of us, we knew. We knew something was very wrong. As Detective Nayblow and Deputy Wallace worked to find Jade, they got help from state and national organizations that shared these missing posters on social media.

That was huge. That's when a lot of tips started coming in. And there would be a potential break in the investigation. A tip from a hospital worker in Minnesota. We're not too far away from Iowa. There's this girl. We think maybe that's she'd.

“It would be nice to see you on social media.”

With the checkout with the world for the best conversion.

The checkout with the world for the best conversion. The legendary checkout from Shopify. For just the shop on your website. Just go to social media and search for it. There's a music for your ear.

The video is also released on Wednesday with Shopify. It's going to be a real help. Let's start with a test for an EuroPromonet on Shopify.de/recorder. We wanted to chase every single lead every single tip as far as we could. And when Des Moines PD Detective Cheryl Nayblow got a tip, Jade Coleman,

might have been in a hospital in Red Wing, Minnesota. She was hopeful. The staff member had observed a female come into the hospital. And the person that she was with was kind of controlling the conversation. It drew suspicion and they thought it may be looked like Jade.

So there was follow up done to get the video footage to try to figure out who that person was. When you have a lead, you work your lead until you either prove it's Jade or prove it's false.

And ultimately, I was able to identify who that person was and it was not Jade.

Additional tips poured in from all over the country. You know, ranging from Massachusetts to Oklahoma to Texas. People were definitely paying attention. Look at that.

“Are those all the leads that you explored in the different ways you went about the investigation?”

Yes. That's a lot of leads. It felt like each tip was hope, right, because she could have been out there. The first big break in the case came when Detective Nayblow was able to figure out where Jade had gone after she ran away from that shelter in June 2016.

Detecting Nayblow had obtained search warrants and got access to Jade's social media. In Instagram messages from March 2017 caught her attention. You can see where her mom is coming to get her in here in Zona. I just talked to mom, Jade wrote to her friend, Dainland. She's coming next week.

I'm in Arizona right now. Jade wrote to another friend. I should be back in Iowa today or tomorrow. Detective Nayblow learned Jade had been staying in Arizona for several months. And it seemed LaDawn was going to bring her back to Iowa.

Detective Nayblow also got access to LaDawn's accounts. And on her Facebook, there was a message mentioning the town of Decora. Decora is just a small, rural Midwest, Iowa town. As Detective Nayblow combed through LaDawn's Facebook, she saw messages LaDawn had sent to Jade and uncovered a clue.

A mention of someone named James. Investigators learned James was James Bhakmerski. A man LaDawn had been dating for several months. LaDawn and him met online. He began a romantic relationship.

LaDawn would go and stay with him occasionally. I think one point was living with him.

And had two sons, Brian age 19 and James Junior age 21.

“Investigators gained access to voice messages.”

LaDawn had sent Jade detailing a plan for her daughter to stay at the farm, while she lived three hours away, dealing with some legal issues. In a limiter until you are probably 18 and able to get out of the system. I don't already have you out of the system. And you'll have a good life, baby, one I want, I love you.

It was just a temporary, I'm going to get right with the core, and then Jake can come live with me. How big a lead is that? Are you thinking we've got a break in this case? Yeah, it was huge.

I remember going over to the U.S. Marshall's office and they were excited. The marshals reached out to local law enforcement near the Bhakmerski farm for help talking to the family. And that's when Detective Chris Webger from the Winnishy County Sheriff's office officially joined the team.

I, first of all, decorat, I mean, where are we?

What is this town known for? God's country. God's country. It's in North East Iowa, kind of way up in the top corner. So tell me about getting the call to first, you know,

start the investigation into this young Missing Girl Jade Colvin. Who's calling you? So we received a call from the U.S. marshals,

“and they reached out to us and said, hey, do you guys know the Bhakmerski's?”

Can you guys help us go and talk to them? And so that's ultimately where we started. The goal was to talk to them and say, hey, look, we're looking for this Missing Girl. Her name is Jade Colvin, and your names were brought up in social media. What can you tell us about her?

They found Brian Bhakmerski first.

According to Detective Weppger, Brian confirmed Jade had been at the farm. Her mother dropped her off and left. A few days after she arrived, Brian and Jade had lunch at this pizza ranch and took several photos together.

So right here, this fifth. I mean, you look at this photo. And you see, you know, she has a genuine smile. And it seems like there, you know, sort of goofy face, like having fun with each other. They got along.

Teenage kids and everything, and yeah, absolutely. Brian told investigators he didn't know what happened to Jade. He said the last time he saw her was two days after their lunch at Pizza Ranch around 10 p.m. before he said he worked the night shift at Walmart. Brian claimed he texted with Jade until just after midnight

when she suddenly stopped responding. Deputy Wallace wasn't convinced by Brian's story. There were several of us thought that we probably weren't getting all the information out of him. That included Detective Weppger.

There's something that doesn't feel right about this as to what's going on. And there was something else that trouble Detective Weppger. That was the last time that she ever had any from Facebook, from Instagram, from Snapchat.

She never had another digital footprint again.

And for teenage girl, how unusual is that? Extremely unusual.

“How could Jade seemingly disappear without a trace?”

According to Deputy Wallace, Le Dawn thought it was unusual, too, and she went to the farm to confront James. We're able to interview one of the friends who said she drove Le Dawn out to the farm in Dakota. The friend stayed in the car while Le Dawn went inside the house

to talk to James Backmarsky. Le Dawn's friend told the marshals James claimed Jade ran away. Suspecting there was more to the story, Chris Weppger called Special Agent John Turbett from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and asked him for help.

Chris laid out what we knew, what the marshals had been able to un-earth. And as I'm sitting there listening, I said, it's very likely that Jade is no longer alive. And we actually need to start treating this as a homicide investigation. Do you have a dark curiosity? Hard starts pounding,

horror's hauntings and mysteries is a weekly podcast hosted by me in Kill and More. Each week, I'll take you on a dark journey through terrifying true urban legends, bizarre true crime cases, chilling tales of Backwood's horror and more. So, if you're looking to join a passionate community of the Darkly Curious, check out Hard starts pounding on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Music]

So, this here is the farm.

“Yep, so this is the where-back marshy's lived.”

Having established Jade was at this farm in Decora, Iowa in March of 2017. Detective Chris Webger hoped new leads could be developed to solve the mystery of what happened to her. This farm really is at the end of the road here. It is the house at the end of the road. House at the end of the road.

You can see how secluded it is. [Music] This is a young girl who has a history of running away. When you get out here, is it possible? Do you think she could run away?

Our evidence showed that she didn't.

And if you were to run away from here, I mean, there is just farm land and empty space.

I mean, direction, you're not from here. I bet you, which way were we facing right now? I mean, she's not going to know where she's at. When investigators first visited the farm in 2022, James Bachmersky no longer lived here. And the house had been gutted and renovated, but the new owners let them look around.

We tried to find anything we could in the area, and ultimately we didn't. You have this farm where we know Jade is last seen, so we draw a box around the farm. And we say, who's living in the farm? Who are the guests at the farm? Certainly the owner of the property, the one who's having contact with Le Dawn and Jade,

is James Bachmersky senior. And then you have these two sons, James Junior and Brian. Having already talked to Brian, detectives were eager to reach James Junior. Turns out he had an alibi.

He wasn't living in the area at the time and was never at the farm with Jade.

So that left James Bachmersky senior to be interviewed. We had known from that initial contact with the kids that Bachmersky had moved away and he was in Georgia. Special agent John Turbett made the trip. We located the house and it was out in the middle of nowhere.

“What's the mindset going into an interview and first interaction with somebody like him?”

I think despite what a lot of people think I am really trying to take off the police hat and a lot of the things that come with that. And I need to sit down with James and I need to be John and he needs to be James and can we have a good conversation about this young lady that he clearly had out on his property and has never been seen. When John Turbett knocked on the door, James Bachmersky agreed to talk. These are excerpts of the audio interview.

Think one of the first things out of his mouth, if not the first was, "No, we're here, we're talking to him in the night block. And it's affected my life forever." I've knocked on doors a lot in my career and that would be on the, you know, that would be an outlier for opening remarks. You're like, "Okay, he's thinking of something that, you know, I'm not.

I'm making it clear. I'm talking about Jade and he continues." Okay, I have that clip. I'm going to play for you. You know what I think? What? We got to find answers.

Yeah, I agree with that. All I wanted was to go to my grave to know that my kids had nothing to do with what was called out. Yeah, I don't know what they do. It's interesting. He said, "I don't want to implicate my kids." Yes.

But in so doing, is he implicating his kids? Well, it seemed like it, so he immediately is talking about someone being implicated, which says, "In my mind, he thinks the crime was committed." Now, it's a question of, "Was it me? Was it my boys?" James Bachmersky confirmed he was in a relationship with Le Dawn,

and that she brought Jade to his farm to hide her and keep her from being put in foster care. Oh, I thought I was going to have him. What? He has. I thought we were going to be a here family.

He admits that there's a plan to bring Jade back. You know, to Iowa, he's saying this woman was trying to reunite with her daughter and get to a new life.

“Did he say when, in that interview, he last saw Jade?”

Yeah. To my knowledge, he was getting ready to do a bunch of laundry, and I'm going to go to more of this for something. Norbies, which is like a farm and fleets store, and the next thing I know, she'd vanished out of thin air.

James Bachmersky talked for several hours that day, but after the interview, John Turbin and Chris Webger were still no closer to finding out what happened to Jade. They wondered if there were any additional clues to be discovered back at the farm.

And that's when we came across the neighbor that said,

“"Hey, by the way, I have this barn that James Bachmersky property is left in.”

In 2018, he was left in a real hurry and left all the stuff behind." And so we're like, "Well, really." And so we went there and found this dusty old phone in a box. [music] It was James Bachmersky's cell phone.

This was a real fine. I mean, if you're looking for a smoking gun, you're getting a cell phone instead. This was something that was unbelievable to come across. On the phone, they found these photos of Jade at the farm. There's this one with her mother Lodon,

when she dropped her off and left. And this one, from the day after Brian and Jade had lunch at Pizza Ranch, of them at a bonfire. There was a number of photos with them at that bonfire, roasting hot dogs and stuff like that.

[music] There's the last known photos of Jade. On Bachmersky's phone, there were also text messages Jade had sent, including the ones Brian had mentioned when he said he worked the night shift at Walmart. The same night, Jade was last heard from.

Those last text conversations were monumental to my opinion. So let's go through these a little bit. Here it is, Jade reaching out to him around after a little afternoon night. It says, "Hey Brian, it's Jade."

And I always love this because, you know,

the typical teenager saying Jade, you know. She's just checking in with him. Is it going okay, tired yet? Yeah, just, you know, just the typical conversation.

“And she's like, "If you want to call in your hour break,”

we still can if you want." So they're planning for his break, like within. Ultimately, planning to talk again that night, I'm not sure there it is. And then he's like, "Well, I guess just text me.

When you can, this is two o'clock, already two o' three, he's on his break." Yep. And fully expecting that Jade's going to be texting. And it doesn't get anything. Those text messages, along with Brian's time sheets from Walmart,

help confirm his story and cleared him.

I'm not able to cooperate. Things he's telling us. We kind of took him off of the table. Yes. As Chris Weppger and John Turbett continue to search

through information from Buck Murphy's phone, they say they made an important discovery several deleted messages.

“Those were mostly family that was reaching out”

to find Jade, to talk to Jade. Including messages from LaDawn, who sounds desperate to reach her daughter. Please let my baby girl know I love her and need to talk to her.

He's selectively removing, but we would consider evidence or helpful information. Suspicious behavior then. I would think so. But it would be two seemingly random photos

found on Buck Murphy's cell phone that changed the course of the investigation. One of his kitchen and one of his bedroom, taken just two days after Jade had that last text exchange with Brian.

Describe for me what you see here. This is from the timeframe of April 1st, 2017. So this is a picture of the Buck Murphy's beach kitchen. This is a very unique picture where everything is cleaned up. Everything is organized. There's no garbage laying around clean.

Was it a crime scene? And as we talked to people, Brian included. He talks about the condition of this house. When he had lived there and been there. He does not say that they were good housekeepers.

I mean, it was not good. So to see pictures like this, this is way out of what law enforcement knew. This is way out of description. And in another photo on the phone,

taken two months later on June 5, 2017, of Brian and James Jr. in that same bedroom. Investigators say it appeared the bed was new that the bed in the earlier photo had been removed and replaced.

The mattress is smaller. There's no headboard anymore. And you can see the condition of the room is back to messy. You're thinking, you know, evidence has been cleaned up.

We are now looking at all of these pieces. And it seems undeniable. It is time to tell him that case facts show us that you were involved in the death of Jade Colvin.

the case facts just continue to all point in one direction and at one person. And that one person was James Buckmersky. James Buckmersky, senior. More than two years into the investigation

to find Jade Colvin, special agent John Turbett believes he knows what happened to her. I thought James Buckmersky had killed and disposed of Jade's body.

Now he needed to prove his theory. Armed with the photos from the cell phone, he went back to Georgia. The second interview is going to be different than the first.

I actually open with Hi James. I'm John from Iowa. Do you remember me? How are you, buddy? Do you remember me?

I'm John. I'm an officer from Iowa that talked to you about five months ago. We sat right in at your kitchen table. And he's like, "No." And I'm like, "Okay."

So that would obviously something would be really wrong

“if a human being could not remember that.”

I'm not even close to being like her. He tells you that he's drunk. He can't seem to remember things. Did you believe him? I didn't.

If you recall in that first interview, his level of detail was fantastic. Then we get back. And it's like, he doesn't know me for starters. He can't place lidon or Jade.

And that all seems remarkably unbelievable. Turbid pressed on. And he asked Buck Mersky about those photos from his phone.

A couple days after this little girl's never seen or heard from again ever.

This is your bedroom. So you cleaned your bedroom. Great job. Let's see how clean that is. The floors are shiny.

You see that? So I guess you think that there was evidence there that I tried to get rid of. Well, I'm just saying. I ain't telling you right now. Guarantee you there isn't.

Guarantee you there isn't. What are you thinking when you hear that? Well, I mean, as you listen to that clip, he says,

“well, you must think I've, you know, hidden evidence or destroyed evidence.”

And I'm like, well, it's getting hard for me to reach any other conclusion at that point. According to Turbid, Buck Mersky had an explanation for why he took those photos. He floats the idea of, hey, I was going to sell or at least the property. But I don't think that was ever proven to be the case. The truth is good.

We agree, right? True this, but I don't know what you want. Just the truth. And what is the truth? Because I don't know where it is.

What is it?

The truth is where Jade ended up.

All right, where? Well, I'm going to ask you that question. And I'm asking you because I don't know. I'm pleading with him to just talk about the truth. And he's admitting the truth is good.

But we're not quite having a truthful conversation. At that point, it is time to tell him that based on everything the case facts show us that you were involved in the death of Jade Colvin. And it's a very important moment. All right, let's listen to, you're saying that to him.

What does point is that the case facts show us you were involved in James. You know, James stuff. You do know where James had. Yeah. I told you last time.

Yeah, you keep saying down. She's dead. Why do you say that? She did.

“I think James Bach, Mersky, just wanted to know.”

Had we somehow pieced this all together? You don't want the chance. Are you ready? We should talk about that. A long time ago, figured.

I'd go to grade before I tell the truth. Go about this. Yes. I'd go to the grade before I talk about it. Yes.

Did you take that as a confession? That's about as close as you can probably get at the end of that interview. Any doubt I had if there was any had been removed. You've got the right guy. We've got the right guy.

In August 2024, James Bach Mersky was charged with murder in the second degree. My heart just dropped. Eight years after Jade was reported missing. Her friends and family, including her aunt, Sandra Bruce, finally learned the teenager.

They cared so much about was never coming back.

You just don't want to believe it. It hurt me so bad. She's gone. Yeah, that's she's gone. Assistant Iowa Attorney General Scott Brown felt the evidence against James Bach Mersky.

Was strong. Jade was at James Bach Mersky's residence. He was the last person to have seen Jade alive. He had those cell phone photos of James Bach Mersky's clean kitchen and bedroom. And the deleted messages from Jade's family.

Communications like we're LaDonna's looking for Jade.

A long time ago figured I'd go to Craig before I tell the truth.

“Why would you make that statement if you had nothing to do with Jade call and stuff?”

But what Scott didn't have was Jade's body.

Jade call then has never been recovered.

Her body was never found. Usually there is a body. So a jury would look at that and play. Okay, obviously a crime has been committed. But here we have to prove that a crime was committed.

Jade is missing in that she didn't leave on her own. And with the case about to go on trial. Would it be enough to convince a jury of Bach Mersky's guilt? How do we make that? Not only makes sense, but makes sense beyond a reasonable doubt.

Is it enough? Certainly that was a concern here. For more than three years, Deputy U.S. Marshall Justin Wallace says a dedicated and passionate group worked tirelessly

“to try and find out what happened to Jade.”

There were so many people that were involved in this. All of us put in a lot of work, a lot of time, a lot of effort. That team included Detective Cheryl Neblo, Detective Chris Weppger and Special Agent John Turbett.

There was never a doubt that we had the right person.

The murder trial against James Bach Mersky now gray-haired began at August 2025. Prosecutor Scott Brown explains how Bach Mersky's actions after he claimed Jade had run away, pointed to his guilt. Why isn't he calling law enforcement?

Hey, there was this girl that was staying in my place and now people can't find her. Why wouldn't he do that? The defense argued there was no evidence Jade Colvin was dead or that James Bach Mersky had killed her.

There was no DNA they said. No murder weapon and no damning Google searches. But there was Jade's history of running away. Brown says that's irrelevant.

She did have a history of running away, but she always resurfaced.

She always stayed on her cell phone. Why would she stop using her cell phone? That was a big hurdle for them. Special Agent John Turbett and Detective Chris Weppger say throughout the week-long trial, Bach Mersky,

who did not testify, showed little emotion. He seemed emotionally detached. He just tried to stay stoic. And there was information the jury wouldn't hear. James Bach Mersky had a criminal history,

including a prior charge for harassment. And in 2013, Bach Mersky spent nearly a year behind bars after being charged with child endangerment against his own children. And took a plea to a lesser offense of assault.

Deputy Justin Wallace described some of the violence as alleged in court documents. He had a metal chair with a battery hooked up to it and when the boys misbehaved, he put him in the chair. Which essentially shocked him.

Oh my gosh. I mean, when you hear that, are you already thinking the worst of what he could have done to Jade? It definitely does creep to the forefront of your mind. Deputy Wallace believes Le Dawn didn't know about his history of violence.

He probably did not have any idea of who he truly was. That's something Jamie Koopman believes as well. I know Le Dawn and I have taken Jade somewhere that she thought this of all things would happen.

“As for a motive for why Bach Mersky would kill Jade Colvin?”

There was some evidence that we had that he was attracted to Jade. He took all those photos of her. When the jury began deliberations, Scott Brown was confident in the case he presented.

Then several hours. We the jury. Find the defendant guilty of murdering the second degree. James Bach Mersky was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Considering he's 67 years old, it is essentially a life sentence.

Jade's aunt, Tandra Bruce, was relieved. And when you heard the verdict, what did you think? I thought finally justice is being done. I was super grateful that the family was able to get that outcome in the case.

It makes it all worth it. This was about justice for Jade. Looking back on it, it kind of seems pretty amazing how it came together.

I think it gives a lot of people hope that there are people who are as passionate

“and committed as the team that went into trying to find out what happened to Jade Colvin.”

Yeah, this was very special for us. But there are a lot of police officers out there doing the exact same thing. But everyone involved believes the case is not over yet. My hope is to get Jade someday.

This isn't one that's going to stop for me.

We all agree that we're going to continue to see if we can find out where she is and bring her home to them.

“Just because James was charged and convicted,”

doesn't mean that she still doesn't deserve to be found. I want to bring her home. I want to have a proper burial for her. I want somebody out there. They know something to please come forward.

Until then, those who love Jade continue to struggle with their grief.

“I have pictures and, you know, I just want to think of her as when she was happy.”

I talk about her. I know a lot of people forget about her. She did it.

It's certainly at this and I never want anybody to think that she did anything wrong

or that it was any way her fault. I just wanted more people to know about her that she existed and she was person. She got everything she didn't deserve in life. She deserved the entire world. And she would have made the world better place every day that she would have been here.

When beloved family patriarch Gary Ferris went missing, his family looked everywhere on their property until they came across something horrifying. It's a homicide. Absolutely. The blame game in this family went round and round.

This is bloodesticker, the Ferris wheel. I would don't see how anyone can look at this story and think they were happy. Binge the full series, bloodesticker, the Ferris wheel, on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast.