Updated 2:15 p.m. Oct. 28, 2026, with Stremple’s court date and attorney, from court records. Updated 3:40 p.m. Oct. 28, 2026, with information from an Alexandria Police Department news release.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — John Stremple III, 63, of Alexandria, has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Joshua Cochran, a 44-year-old Alexandria man whose family reported him missing this week, police said.

Police found Cochran dead Tuesday night in the 5800 block of Merton Court, according to an Alexandria Police Department media advisory. Police Chief Tarrick McGuire said at a briefing outside police headquarters Wednesday afternoon that Cochran was found in a closet inside the suspect's apartment.

Stremple was booked into the Alexandria Detention Center on Wednesday, according to an email from the department to The Alexandria Brief.