- Jasmine Pace disappeared just before Thanksgiving in November 2022, after sending her mum a mysterious location pin at 2.18am
- The pin led Jasmine’s family to Jason Chen’s apartment, where they discovered clues that prompted police to investigate
- Jasmine’s body was later found inside a suitcase near the Tennessee River
Her family called her ‘an old soul’ – wise beyond her years, endlessly kind and always putting others before herself.
Studying at uni, Jasmine Pace, affectionately called ‘Jazzy’, had big dreams for the future.
She adored animals and treasured every moment with those closest to her.
Jazzy also had a busy social life. But like many young women, she hoped to find someone special, so she signed up to a dating app.
There she met Jason Chen, a quiet computer science student, and soon realised they were at the same university.
The pair dated for several months in 2021 before drifting apart.
By early 2022 they’d rekindled their relationship, enjoying cosy nights on the couch, studying together. They were the picture of a happy, affectionate couple.
Jazzy, 22, was especially close to her mum, Catrina Bean, and the pair spoke often.
Catrina couldn’t wait for Jazzy’s next visit home so they could celebrate Thanksgiving together, as they always did.
Then, just two days before the holiday, Jazzy sent a text saying she was spending Thanksgiving with a friend instead.
Her mum immediately felt something wasn’t right.
‘She was dependable,’ Catrina later explained on Dateline: Unforgettable.
‘That just wasn’t Jazzy.’
The family was also grieving the loss of Jazzy’s beloved great-grandmother.
So Catrina wondered if her daughter simply needed some time alone.
Then, at 2.18am on November 23, Catrina’s phone suddenly lit up. It was a location pin from Jazzy.
There was no message – just the pin.
This was odd and Catrina’s instincts told her something was terribly wrong. Over the next few days, her daughter seemed to have vanished.
Calls went unanswered. Messages weren’t returned.
On November 26, a photo suddenly appeared on Jazzy’s Facebook page.
Recognising it as an old picture, her loved ones felt it wasn’t something Jazzy would have posted herself.
Desperate for answers, Catrina rang Jason, who insisted he hadn’t spoken to Jazzy.
Determined to find her daughter, Catrina decided to follow the location pin she’d received – and it led to Jason’s apartment.
Chillingly, a neighbour told the family she had heard terrifying screams coming from the apartment during the early hours of November 23 – around the time the location pin had landed in Catrina’s phone.
Was it a cry for help?
Unable to wait any longer, Jazzy’s family forced their way inside – finding her ID, credit cards and an overnight bag.
But there was no sign of either Jazzy or Jason.
The family reported to police with everything they had discovered.
When detectives searched, they uncovered bloodstains and evidence of cleaning products. It all pointed to a violent struggle and Jazzy being dead.
Detectives tracked down Jason to his parents’ home in Nolensville, Tennessee, and found handwritten notes about Jazzy’s life. Jason Chen was arrested on November 29 and charged with murder.
Investigators also confirmed Chen had been captured on surveillance footage at a store purchasing cleaning supplies shortly after Jazzy was killed.
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Then came the heartbreaking discovery.
On December 1, Jazzy’s body was found stuffed inside a suitcase abandoned on a steep embankment near the Tennessee River.
She had been handcuffed and shackled, wrapped in garbage bags and hidden inside the case. An autopsy revealed she had suffered more than 60 stab wounds.
In the Tennessee Criminal Court, as Chen’s trial began in January 2025, the courtroom fell silent when his own lawyer, Josh Weiss, stunned everyone with his opening words.
‘He is guilty,’ the lawyer said. ‘But he’s not guilty of the crime he’s charged with.’
Instead, the defence claimed Chen acted in self-defence after Jazzy allegedly confronted him over affectionate messages she’d found between him and other women.
Prosecutors firmly rejected this, arguing the evidence overwhelmingly showed the murder had been premeditated.
Chillingly, prosecutors said Chen was active on Tinder within hours of the killing, messaging multiple women and reportedly telling one, So I guess we’re dating now.
Then, at 10.40am, to pretend she was still alive, he sent a text to Jazzy’s phone with a photo of himself at Starbucks.
Good morning. I slept like a baby, it read.
But it was Jazzy’s family who delivered the trial’s most emotional moments.
During her victim impact statement, Jazzy’s cousin Jacqueline slowly dropped 60 stones into a glass jar.
‘One for every stab wound,’ she told the courtroom.
Then, staring directly at Chen, she delivered one final heartbreaking message.
‘Your last victim, Jason, is your family You didn’t just take Jasmine, you took your family’s dreams, hope, privacy.’
Calling him ‘predatory’, a ‘subhuman villain’ and a ‘coward’, she said he was beyond saving.
The jury took just 45 minutes to reach its verdict.
Jason Chen, then 24, was found guilty of premeditated first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse.
Jurors unanimously rejected the possibility of parole, finding the murder involved exceptional cruelty.
He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In May 2026, a Hamilton County judge denied his request for a retrial.
But for her family, nothing will ever fill the enormous hole left by the loss of kind-hearted Jazzy.
