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Dateline: Unforgettable Season 5 Episode 5 titled The Bridge is all set to re-air on February 13, 2025, on Oxygen . The episode deals with the Fayetteville murder of a 28-year-old construction worker, James Chambers, in 2014. This rendition of classic Dateline series, Unforgettable, has the show's correspondents discussing their favourite reports. The orginal episode aired on NBC on October 1, 2021.
In August 2014, the sudden disappearance of construction worker James Chambers came as a shock to his family and community. As they desperately sought answers, detectives worked tirelessly to solve the mystery. The episode titled The Bridge in Dateline: Unforgettable offers a deep dive into the case, which features interviews with James' family and key detectives who played a part in the search.
What looked like a missing case for four years was solved in 2018 after his friend Howard Ashleman disclosed to his then-girlfriend that he had mistakenly shot his co-worker James Chambers during a heated argument.
Let us take a look at what we know about the mysterious disappearance and murder of James Chambers.
Who was Dateline Unforgetable subject James Chambers?
James Allan Chambers II was a 28-year-old construction worker and lifeguard in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He was single, good-looking, outgoing, and popular young man. His parents were divorced but they remained in close contact with him. As per James' father Pete Chambers, the deceased was a caring and dependable son. James worked as a construction worker in his father's company, Chambers Concrete, at Fort Braggwent.
James Chambers was last spotted on August 15, 2014, in his apartment by his former girlfriend. His girlfriend guessed that Howard Ashleman, who was present there, would be driving James to his weekend job as a lifeguard at Lake Leamon.
What happened to James Chambers as shown in Dateline?
On a hot and humid afternoon in August 2014, James Chambers wrapped up his work at his father's construction company and was preparing for the weekend. He had plans to visit Lake Leamon as he loved swimming and fishing, and he also had a lifeguard's job there. However, he did not show up for a week or so and his phone was unreachable, too.
When Brandy Sugre, James' roommate, contacted the manager of the lake, the latter disclosed that James never showed up. This is when Brandy realized that James had left behind his driving license.
The family frantically searched for him, calling his friends, and posting on social media in the hope that James would show up. Pete finally lodged a report with the Fayetteville Police Department, where they launched a missing person investigation on August 24, 2014. After two weeks the missing person department turned to the homicide division, and Detective Mike Ballard took up the case.
According to the show, as Ballard started investigating and questioning James' friends, he came across Howard Ashman, a 21-year-old who worked at Pete's construction site with James. On the day James was seen for the last time, Howard took him back home from work. James' father Pete informed the police on August 15, 2014, that Howard Ashman picked James up from his home. Howard, however, denied such claims.
Although he was a prime suspect in James Chamber's missing case, Howard Ashleman could not be arrested at the time owing to lack of evidence. However, in 2018 Ashleman confessed that he had mistakenly shot James Chambers on their way to the lake after a heated scuffle.
He incarcerated James' body in the woods and buried it in the rural parts of Wade, Cumberland County. Not just this, he later dug up the trench and cut his body, packed the pieces in trash bags, which he disposed of in the Cape Fear River. He then sold the truck he had used to a scrapyard, thus getting rid of all the evidence.
How was the Fayetteville murder of James Chambers solved?
Howard Ashleman's confession of James Chambers was not as simple as it looks. It took over four years for Howard Ashleman to confess. After James' disappearance, Howard moved to Florida and wanted to start a life based on devotion. He often discussed the death and murder of James Chambers with his then-girlfriend turned wife Hannah Jones.
His wife recorded him talking about the incident and reported him to the Florida police. The Florida Randolph County police arrested him on February 12, 2018. After eight days, he pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of James Chambers, which could potentially lead to at least 15 years and six months and a maximum of 19 years and eight months in prison.
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As a part of his plea, Howard agreed to show the location of where he disposed of James' body but it was never found. Currently, Howard Ashleman is locked up at the Colombus Correctional Institution in Whiteville.
Tune in to SoapCentral for more information.
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