A Somali national living in Noel, Missouri, has pleaded guilty to kidnapping resulting in death. Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed, 43, entered his plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush.
According to court documents, Mahamed admitted to kidnapping J.M., whose body was found on July 29, 2019, near Missouri Highway 59 between Lanagan and Noel. The discovery was made after a report of a pink suitcase in a roadside ditch with feet sticking out. Law enforcement found J.M.’s severely decomposed body next to the suitcase. A salesclerk from an African Grocery Store in Noel reported that Mahamed had purchased a pink suitcase prior to the discovery.
J.M. was last seen alive on July 16, 2019, when police responded to her home following her call to 911. She told the operator that Mahamed had held her at knife point and attempted to force her into sexual intercourse while her three young children were present: Jane Doe 1 (four years old), Jane Doe 2 (two years old), and Jane Doe 3 (six months old). Efforts to contact J.M. after this incident were unsuccessful, and she and her children were reported missing on July 17.
Around July 28 or July 29, Mahamed called his cousin in Minnesota stating he was bringing J.M.’s children there because “something bad had happened” and he could be in trouble. The children were later found at a residence in Des Moines, Iowa, where they had been left by Mahamed on August 5; he departed without them early on August 8.
Mahamed then left the United States and remained a fugitive until being located and expelled from Guatemala on July 27, 2021. He has been detained since returning to federal custody.
DNA analysis confirmed the identity of J.M., with blood evidence recovered from a vehicle used by Mahamed.
Under federal law, Mahamed faces up to life imprisonment without parole for the offense. Sentencing will be determined by the court after a presentence investigation is completed by the United States Probation Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller is prosecuting the case with investigative support from multiple agencies including the FBI as well as local law enforcement departments from McDonald County (Missouri), Rochester (Minnesota), and Des Moines (Iowa).
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