WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT. On July 16, 2019, Jessica McCormack made a frantic call to emergency services, claiming she was terrified of her boyfriend Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed
A man has pleaded guilty to kidnapping his girlfriend after her “severely decomposed” legs were discovered sticking out of a suitcase.
Jessica McCormack was last seen alive on July 16, 2019. It was on this day that the mother of three called 911, reporting that her partner, Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed, had held her at knifepoint outside their residence and tried to force her into having sex with him.
As per a plea agreement, which has now been signed by Mahamed, 25-year-old Jessica, from Missouri, informed officers that Mahamed, 43, kept multiple knives in the apartment, and that she’d feared he would hurt her.
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The following day, Jessica and her three children, then aged four years old, two years old, and six months old, were reported missing. The Kansas City Star reports that two women tried to find Jessica on July 16 and 17, one of whom told McDonald County dispatchers that she’d been unable to make contact with her.
A few days later, on July 28 or 29, Mahamed allegedly called his cousin, telling her he was bringing Jessica’s daughters to her home in Des Moines, Iowa, as “something bad had happened and he could be in trouble.”
On July 29, ten days after Jessica’s harrowing 911 call, “an individual reported observing a pink suitcase in a roadside ditch with feet sticking out”, according to the Attorney’s Office.
This grim discovery was made close to Missouri Highway 59 between the Missouri cities of Lanagan and Noel. As per the Attorney’s Office statement: ” Law enforcement located J.M.’s severely decomposed body lying next to the pink suitcase. A salesclerk from the African Grocery Store in Noel later reported that Mahamed had purchased a pink suitcase sometime before J.M.’s body was discovered.”
DNA analysis showed that the body was that of Jessica, whose “blood was discovered on multiple items recovered from a vehicle utilised by Mahamed.” By the time Jessica’s three young children had been rescued from his cousin’s home on August 6, 2029, Mahamed, a permanent US resident originally from Somalia, had already fled the country as a fugitive from justice.
Mahamed was eventually located and expelled from Guatemala on July 27, 2021, and has been detained in federal custody since returning to the US. He was indicted last year, People reports. As well as being charged with kidnapping resulting in death, Mahamed was also indicted on charges of stalking resulting in death and kidnapping a minor.
At the time of writing, it isn’t immediately clear if Mahamed is still facing these accusations or what pleas were entered in regards to these charges. He now faces life in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the United States Probation Office completes its presentence investigation.
According to Jessica’s heartbreaking obituary, “She loved horses and all kinds of wildlife and enjoyed taking pictures, but most of all, spending time with her family.”
For confidential support, call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit womensaid.co.uk If you or your family have lost a friend or family member through fatal domestic abuse, AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) can offer specialist and expert support and advocacy. For more info visit www.aafda.org.uk
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