Missouri (HOL) A Somali national received a 30-year federal prison sentence Wednesday for kidnapping a woman whose body was later found in a Missouri roadside ditch, according to federal prosecutors.
Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed, 44, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Megan B. Benton following his conviction in a kidnapping case that resulted in the death of a woman referred to in court documents as J.M.
Prosecutors stated that J.M.’s body was discovered on July 29, 2019, near Missouri Highway 59 when a passerby noticed a pink suitcase in a ditch with feet visible. Authorities reported that the woman’s highly decomposed body was found next to the suitcase.
Investigators connected Mahamed to the crime through DNA evidence. Court documents revealed that J.M.’s blood was present on various items taken from a vehicle shared by the victim and Mahamed.
According to authorities, J.M. was last seen alive on July 16, 2019, when officers responded to a disturbance call at her apartment. During a 911 call, J.M. informed dispatchers that Mahamed had held her at knifepoint and tried to compel her into sexual activity. She also voiced concerns about her three young children, who were present in the apartment with him at that moment.
The next day, J.M. and her children were reported missing after relatives and others could not reach her. The children were eventually found on Aug. 8, 2019, at a residence in Des Moines, Iowa.
Prosecutors indicated that Mahamed left the children in Iowa before escaping the United States. He remained at large until Guatemalan authorities deported him to the United States on July 27, 2021.
The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller and investigated by the FBI, the McDonald County Sheriff’s Department in Missouri, the Rochester Police Department in Minnesota, and the Des Moines Police Department in Iowa.