Police Reveal Bizarre Place Missing Fox News Employee Found Dead After Being Beaten
Two details pushed the family of Joshua Cochran from worry to alarm last week: his dog sat alone inside his Alexandria, Virginia, apartment, and his vehicle never moved from its spot outside the building.
By Wednesday, police had a suspect in custody, and Cochran, a 44-year-old Fox News Media employee, was dead.
Officers arrested John Stremple III, 63, a neighbor of Cochran’s, and charged him with second-degree murder.
He went into the Alexandria Detention Center on Wednesday, where he is being held without bond. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 6, 2027.
Cochran was last seen Saturday evening.
When relatives could not reach him afterward, they called police. His mother said her fear grew sharper when his phone sent every call straight to voicemail.
The family asked for a welfare check Monday. Officers entered the apartment with help from maintenance personnel, searched it, and did not find Cochran.
Relatives contacted authorities again Tuesday, pointing to the car that still sat outside while Cochran remained missing. Police reclassified him as a critical missing person.
Detectives then went to work on his final hours. They pulled financial records and surveillance footage and used both to reconstruct where Cochran traveled after he vanished.
That trail showed Cochran had spent Saturday drinking at several Alexandria establishments with Stremple, who lived in the same complex.
The same evidence carried detectives to Stremple’s apartment in the 5800 block of Merton Court. Alexandria Police Chief Tarrick McGuire said the visit turned the moment the door swung open.
“When they opened that door, the suspect gave an immediate confession,” McGuire said.
Police then went inside and found Cochran’s body hidden in a closet. Authorities said he suffered serious blunt-force trauma to the head.
Investigators have not publicly identified the object used in the attack. Police said no firearm played a role in the killing.
Authorities have released no motive, and they have not described how Cochran and Stremple knew each other before that night.
Detectives continue to piece together what happened after the two men returned home from drinking.
Multiple reports say Stremple appears on Virginia’s sex-offender registry because of a 2014 conviction involving sodomy against a minor.
Police have not suggested that the earlier case had any connection to Cochran’s death.
Cochran worked for Fox News Media.
His family said he was employed there as a video editor, while other reports listed his position as digital librarian, a job that involved handling the organization’s digital media.
The company released a statement after his death was confirmed.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of our colleague Joshua Cochran,” the company said. Fox called him a dedicated member of its team and said his colleagues would deeply miss him.
Cochran had moved to Alexandria to live closer to his 8-year-old son, according to his family.
Relatives described a man who was outgoing and quick to befriend strangers.
His sister-in-law, Michelle Cochran, said family members first imagined he had simply struck up a friendship with an older resident of the complex.
His mother called him smart and funny, a man with a “soft soul.” She said the family remains stunned by the violent way he died.
Neighbors voiced similar shock after learning that Cochran’s body had allegedly been concealed in an apartment only steps from his own.
One neighbor said he had shared beers with Stremple in the past and found the murder allegation hard to square with their ordinary interactions.
Police credited surveillance cameras and financial transaction records with supplying the crucial trail from Cochran’s disappearance to Stremple’s door.
The homicide investigation remains active. The Alexandria Police Department is asking anyone with additional information about Cochran’s death to contact investigators.
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