Former Noel Missouri man indicted for kidnapping resulting in death

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A former Noel, Missouri, man who was indicted in 2019 for kidnapping the 4-year-old daughter of a murdered woman whose body was discovered in a suitcase alongside a highway now faces additional charges related to that murder.

Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed, 39, a Somali national who was a permanent resident alien in the United States, was charged in a three-count superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield. Today’s superseding indictment replaces the original indictment, which was returned on Aug. 20, 2019, and contains additional charges.

The superseding indictment charges Mahamed with one count of kidnapping resulting in death, one count of stalking resulting in death, and one count of kidnapping a minor.

The superseding indictment alleges that Mahamed kidnapped the victim, identified as “J.M.,” which resulted in her death in July 2019. The victim has previously been identified in public court filings as Jessica McCormack of Noel, Mo.

The superseding indictment also alleges that Mahamed stalked McCormack from April 1 to July 17, 2019, which resulted in her death.

The superseding indictment includes the original charge of kidnapping a minor victim (identified in court documents as Jane Doe 1) and transporting her from Missouri to Iowa.

Following his indictment in 2019, Mahamed was a fugitive from justice for nearly a year until he was arrested in Guatemala on July 27, 2021. He has been detained in federal custody since his arrest.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original federal criminal complaint, McCormack’s body 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 residence were Mahamed, who was identified as McCormack’s paramour, 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).

McCormack’s children could not be located after her body was discovered and identified. An Amber Alert was issued for McCormack’s three children, who were located at a residence 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.

The charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

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, the Noel, Mo., Marshal’s Office, the Rochester, Minn., Police Department, and the Des Moines, Iowa, Police Department.