A year after he was reported missing, celebrated hip hop journalist James Bernard has been confirmed dead. Bernard was best known as co-founder of the pioneering hip-hop magazines The Source and XXL. A spokesman for the Burlington County, N.J., prosecutor’s office told Journal-isms on Monday that his death is “being treated as a suicide.”
“His body was discovered on December 29, 2025, by hunters in a wooded area of Pemberton Township,” the public information officer told Journal-isms.
“The conclusion is based on a determination from the medical examiner’s office.”
The revelation comes after the journalist had been reported missing more than 17 months ago, according to New Jersey records. It appeared that Bernard died soon after his last reported sighting in March of 2024. He was 58.