Noel man extradited for kidnapping murder victim’s daughter

NOEL, Mo. – Federal authorities find and extradite a Noel, Missouri man for kidnapping the 4-year-old daughter of a woman whose body was found in a suitcase in 2019.

Authorities arrested Muhamud Tooxoow Mahamed, 39, a Somali national, in the Republic of Guatemala. They returned him to the United States to face a federal indictment for kidnapping.

The indictment alleges that Mahamed kidnapped a minor victim (identified in court documents as Jane Doe 1) and transported her from Missouri to Iowa.

Mahamed, who has been a fugitive from justice since the indictment, was recently arrested in Guatemala, expelled from that country, and returned to the United States. His initial court appearance was held today in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo. He remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing on Aug. 2, 2021.

Kidnapping

According to court documents, the body of Jessica McCormack, of Noel, was discovered on July 29, 2019, near Missouri Highway 59 between Lanagan, Mo., and Noel. The last time McCormack was seen alive, the affidavit says, was when law enforcement officers responded to a call at her home on July 16, 2019. Also present in the home were Mahamed, who was identified as McCormack’s lover, and McCormack’s three daughters, identified in court documents as Jane Doe 1 (four years old), Jane Doe 2 (two years old), and Jane Doe 3 (six months old).

No one could find McCormack’s children after her body was discovered and identified.

Authorities issued an Amber Alert for McCormack’s three children. They were found at a home in Des Moines, Iowa, and taken into state custody on Aug. 8, 2019.

According to the affidavit, a woman who formerly worked with Mahamed at the Tyson plant in Noel told law enforcement officers that Mahamed arrived at her Des Moines residence with the children on Aug. 5, 2019. She discovered he had left on Aug. 8, 2019, the affidavit says, when she found a note from Mahamed informing her that he could not care for the children.

Investigators confirmed with the father of McCormack’s oldest child that Mahamed did not have his consent to take Jane Doe 1 outside the state of Missouri.

Murder Investigation

The investigation into the murder of Jessica McCormack is ongoing.

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This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the FBI, the McDonald County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, and the Des Moines, Iowa, Police Department.

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