A man has pleaded guilty to kidnapping his girlfriend after her severely decomposed legs were discovered sticking out of a suitcase by the roadside in Missouri. The remains of Jessica McCormack, a 25-year-old mother of three, were found on July 29, 2019, near Highway 59 between Lanagan and Noel.
Jessica had called 911 on July 16, 2019, reporting that her partner, Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed, had held her at knifepoint outside their home and tried to force her into having sex. She told officers that Mahamed kept multiple knives in the apartment and that she feared he would hurt her. The following day, Jessica and her three children, aged four, two, and six months, were reported missing.
Mahamed, a 43-year-old permanent US resident originally from Somalia, fled the country after the discovery of Jessica's body. He was located and expelled from Guatemala on July 27, 2021, and has been in federal custody since. He now faces life in federal prison without parole for kidnapping resulting in death.
DNA analysis confirmed the body was Jessica's, and her blood was found on items in a vehicle used by Mahamed. Her three children were rescued from Mahamed's cousin's home in Des Moines, Iowa, on August 6, 2019. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after a presentence investigation.
