Dateline NBC: Was James Chambers' body ever found?

The 2014 disappearance of the 28-year-old Fayetteville construction worker led to plenty of failed manhunts and a subsequent arrest that still leaves the question of James Chambers' body's whereabouts.

James Chambers disappeared on August 15, 2014, and the investigators had been bewildered for three years before they laid hands on Howard Ashleman's recorded confession from his wife, Hannah Jones. Despite his arrest in February 2018, no human remains have ever been located leaving family searching for James Chambers' body to this day.

The Dateline NBC episode The Bridge brings the 2014 murder case of James Chambers as it airs on January 21, 2024, at 8 p.m. EST. The synopsis reads,

"North Carolina detectives search for answers in the murder of 28-year-old Fayetteville construction worker James Chambers; featuring interviews with James' family members and investigators at the centre of the case."

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What happened to James Chambers? Details explored

James Allan Chambers II was a civilian construction worker at his father's company, Chambers Concrete, at Fort Bragg. He also worked as a lifeguard at Lake Leamon where he was allegedly headed on August 15.

Chambers had returned home from his job at the construction company after which he was supposed to be at Lake Leamon. He was spotted by his roommate, Brandi Sugrue, at his Carol Street home before he headed out with his co-worker, Howard Adrian Ashleman.

Per Dateline NBC, Brandi had assumed that James had been at a girlfriend's place when he failed to return home for days. He had failed to report at his workplace at the Lake which added to the worries. However, James Chambers' family reported him missing to the Fayetteville Police Department after a week on August 24, per the press release.

The subsequent manhunts conducted by family and the police led to no leads but turned Howard Ashleman into a suspect when Chambers' father, Pete, and Brandi informed the investigators of bad blood between them. Pete Chambers had allegedly asked Ashleman to drop James home, per NBC News.

Upon interrogation, Howard cooperated well and claimed to have dropped James home where he allegedly stopped for a few drinks after which he made his way to attend a neighbor’s barbecue.

Ashleman mentioned having his truck compacted at a scrapyard which alerted the investigators. However, they were unable to pursue Howard as they had not found James Chambers' body yet.

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Was James Chambers' body ever found?

As the case started turning cold, James Chambers' parents Pete Chambers and Rachel Wellhouser hired a private detective who got in touch with the friend Howard Ashleman met on the fateful day - Reno Parks. Parks revealed the crime to David Marshburn, the private investigator but would not talk to the police. Ashleman had reportedly shot Chambers dead in an effort to intimidate him and then burnt and buried his body in the woods behind his house. As the investigations sped up, he dug up the body, dismembered it, and dumped it down a bridge over the Cape Fear River.

After three years of efforts by Fayetteville Police Department’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Team, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, the investigators got hold of Howard Ashleman's recorded confession with help from his girlfriend, Hannah Jones.

While the recording led to his arrest on February 12, 2018, in Randolph County, James Chambers' body remained missing. James’s mother, Rachel Wellhouser, and her husband Dennis traveled 20 hours from Texas to comb the areas around Keener Road Bridge where Ashleman led the detectives as part of his plea deal.

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James Chambers' body has not been recovered yet as the search for him continues.