Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Dateline NBC’s upcoming episode will look into the 2014 disappearance of James Chambers from Fayetteville, North Carolina. The episode titled “The Bridge” will air on the network on Sunday, January 21, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET.
According to The Fayetteville Observer, James Chambers, a civilian construction worker at Fort Braggwent, missing in August 2014. Chambers’ former girlfriend last saw him alive at his home in Fayetteville on the evening of August 15. His co-worker Howard Adrian Ashleman was also present at the time.
The subsequent investigation resulted in Howard Ashleman’s arrest more than three years later. He later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. According to prosecutors, Ashleman shot Chambers while trying to scare him. He then burned and buried the victim’s body but later dug it up, dismembered it, and dropped it in plastic garbage bags into the Cape Fear River. The remains were never recovered.
How was James Chamber’s missing case solved?
As previously mentioned, James Chambers’ former girlfriend last saw him alive at his Fayetteville home on August 15, 2014. Chambers’ co-worker Howard Adrian Ashleman was also there, per The Fayetteville Observer. She believed that Ashleman was taking Chambers to a weekend job as a lifeguard at a lake out of town.
Chambers and Ashleman had an ongoing dispute and some animosity that allegedly came to a head that night. The latter was supposed to drive the 28-year-old construction worker to his weekend job. However, the tension between the two escalated that night during the drive. Ashleman reportedly stopped the truck, retrieved a gun from the truck bed, and fired it into the cab just to scare Chambers. But, the bullet struck him and killed him.
According to CBS 17, James Chambers’ family reported him missing on August 24, starting a years-long investigation into his disappearance. Meanwhile, after the incident, Howard Ashleman moved to Florida and allegedly developed strong religious beliefs. Feeling guilty, he then discussed Chambers’ shooting death with a woman he later married on multiple occasions.
The Fayetteville Observer mentioned that Ashleman’s wife recorded him talking about it at least once and told Florida police about his confession. They eventually arrested him in Randolph County on February 12, 2018. Eight days later, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received at least 15 years and six months, but no more than 19 years, and eight months in prison.
Howard Adrian Ashleman later admitted to investigators that at first he burned and buried Chambers’ body, But later, he claimed to have dug it up, dismembered it, and put it in plastic garbage bags before disposing of the bags into the Cape Fear River.
As part of the plea deal, Ashleman agreed to show investigators where the victim’s body was. However, it was never recovered.
Dateline NBC’s episode will further look into James Chambers’ missing case on January 21, 2024.
