Mom of kidnapped 4-year-old found dead in suitcase by highway, feds say. Man charged
_fitted.png "A Missouri man is facing new charges related to the 2019 death of Jessica McCormack and the kidnapping of her 4-year-old child.")
A Missouri man is facing new charges related to the 2019 death of a mother and the kidnapping of her 4-year-old child, officials say.
Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed, 39, was initially charged with kidnapping of a minor, but a superseding indictment filed May 15 adds on a charge of kidnapping resulting in death and stalking resulting in death.
The charges stem from the death of Jessica McCormack in July 2019, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.
McClatchy News reached out to Mahamed’s attorney on May 16 but did not immediately hear back.
According to a criminal complaint, police were called to McCormack’s home in Noel on July 16, 2019. The complaint does not say why police were called to the home but says McCormack, her three children and Mahamed were at the home at the time.
The next day, authorities were called again by someone saying they could not get in contact with McCormack, according to the court document.
Then, on July 29, authorities received a call for reports of a dead body found near a highway in Lanagan, about a 5-mile drive northeast from Noel in southwest Missouri.
Officials later determined it was McCormack, the complaint said. She was found partially clothed inside a suitcase.
On Aug. 8, after McCormack’s body had been positively identified, an Amber Alert was issued for her three children, authorities said. That same day, the three children — 4, 2 and 6 months old — were found at a home in Des Moines, Iowa, according to the complaint.
A woman at the home told authorities that Mahamed showed up at her house on Aug. 5 with the three children. Then, around 4 a.m. on Aug. 8, the woman woke up and found a letter from Mahamed saying he couldn’t care for the children anymore, and he had left, the complaint said.
Authorities also spoke with the father of McCormack’s oldest child. He told police that Mahamed did not have permission to take his child out of the state to Iowa, according to the complaint.
Officials say July 16 was the last day anyone heard from McCormack. A cause of death was not listed.
Noel is about a 105-mile drive southwest from Springfield.
This story was originally published May 16, 2024 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Mom of kidnapped 4-year-old found dead in suitcase by highway, feds say. Man charged."
