Evil ex stabs and kidnaps mother of his child with new girlfriend in sick revenge plotGeorge Jones Sun, November 8, 2026 at 12:11 AM UTC
Luna Cox was held captive by her former partner and his new girlfriend (Image: SWNS)
With her hands restrained in duct tape, a petrified Luna Cox was held captive in an unfamiliar residence.
Her former partner, Jordan Mangum, 42, along with his new girlfriend, Jessica Wheeler, 36, had kidnapped her from her Des Moines, Iowa, residence on December 2, 2023.
Throughout the 17-hour nightmare, the 34-year-old mother was blindfolded, assaulted, had her throat cut and was repeatedly struck by a vehicle in a frantic effort to end her life.
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The court was informed they had targeted Luna to compel her to withdraw a domestic abuse case against Mangum, who had been indicted two weeks prior.
The court was informed they had targeted Luna to compel her to withdraw a domestic abuse case against Mangum (Image: SWNS)
In an exclusive interview with Key Witness: The Moment, Luna, a stay-at-home mother originally from Florida, revealed: "I had no idea why he tried to kill me.
"But I'm happy with where I'm at now because had he not crossed that line, I don't think I would have been able to ever get out of that situation. Some of his words still affect me today.
"And I have certain habits from walking on eggshells for so long with him that I'm trying to break them. But, I'm building myself up one step at a time and just going to do the best I can do because I have my son to take care of."
Luna was just 18 years old when she first connected with Jordan via MySpace in 2010, describing their relationship as a "whirlwind" romance.
She recalled: "I was stuck at home due to medical conditions and wasn't able to go to school. My only outlet was my computer and when someone seemed like they cared about me, obviously I clung to it. After the first week or so, we were on phone and video calls."
Jordan and Luna met on MySpace (Image: SWNS)
Within a year, Jordan, then aged 26, flew from Iowa to attend Luna's graduation ceremony in Florida, where he proposed to her. It seemed like a "dream come true" for the teenager, who agreed to fly back to Iowa to live with his family.
However, just a year later, his true nature began to surface. "I thought my future was going to be perfect," she revealed.
"It was like our honeymoon phase when our son was first born until I started to see that he wasn't. It started with verbal and psychological abuse. He'd say 'why can't you do this right?' and he was very jealous."
Throughout their 11-year relationship, Luna noted that Jordan's conduct deteriorated significantly.
She explained: "Whenever he would get too aggravated with the game or something wasn't going the way he wanted, I would be the outlet for his aggression.
"He would pull my hair or punch me in the ribs. I would end up with a few bruises here and there and a few scratches, but never enough to the point I could report him."
Despite welcoming their son together in 2019, the abuse showed no signs of relenting.
It wasn't until 2023 that Luna started documenting the abuse for her own safety, covertly capturing Jordan's outbursts on her phone.
These recordings ultimately resulted in his first arrest for domestic assault the following November, after Luna had caught him choking her out and threatening to "kill her."
Authorities also imposed a no contact order. Luna believed she was finally safe from his violence until two weeks later on December 2, 2023.
Describing the moment that altered her life permanently, Luna told Key Witness: "It was 3 am in the morning and Jordan had decided to break into my house.
Luna was restrained with rope and blindfolded as Jordan and his new girlfriend, Jessica, drove her 30 minutes to his residence (Image: SWNS)
"He wore a mask of some sort, but because of his stature and build, I knew it was him but pretended I didn't. I figured he wanted to get the rest of his stuff.
"But the next thing I knew, he had stabbed my hand up against the wall with a knife and I was forced into a van. All I had on was a bra, a pair of pants and socks."
Luna was restrained with rope and blindfolded as Jordan and his new girlfriend, Jessica, drove her 30 minutes to his residence in Indianola before transporting her to an undisclosed location.
At that point, the couple had secured Luna's arms, legs and face with duct tape. "When he had finally moved me inside, I could literally move the duct tape enough so that I could see exactly where I was," she said.
"And I started memorizing what pattern the rug has, the colour, and the pattern behind the bricks. I also decided to make a decision that is truly unbelievable...I started to hide evidence. I ripped off hair and wrapping it around things and hiding it."
As hours passed, Jordan walked Luna back out to the van under the pretense that she would see her son, who was staying at Jordan's mother's house at the time.
"I had no idea where they were taking me," she recalled. "I just knew I was supposed to be meeting up with my son somewhere. So when we had finally pulled over at the random place, I had no clue where we were at.
"But as I took off the eye cover and looked around, Jordan had come behind me and started choking me from behind. And I started thinking, God, don't let this be it."
Luna lost consciousness after being strangled (Image: SWNS)
Luna lost consciousness after being strangled, only to wake up beneath her ex's van, with Jessica at the wheel.
"The next thing I know, I'm waking up underneath the van and I hear the gear shift," she said.
"I got ran over again and then I hear the gear shift again and I rolled in the opposite direction until I was able to roll off the road."
Just when Luna believed her ordeal was over, Jordan suddenly approached her with a knife and began slashing at her throat. He had stabbed her a million ways, but relented as Luna desperately pleaded for her life.
She said: "I assumed that he had hurt me enough at the point. I kept asking why he was doing what he was doing and to take me to hospital. I even said they could drop me off a block away."
Fortunately, Luna's abductors abandoned her outside a nearby hospital, where she received critical medical attention - including stitches for the six-inch wound on her neck.
Doctors said the knife was close to hitting one of her arteries, though Luna accredited her plus-size frame and "three-chins" for the near miss.
The duo was apprehended the following day and appeared before Polk County court in June 2024, where both were convicted of attempted murder and kidnapping.
Jordan additionally entered a guilty plea to assault while participating in a felony with a dangerous weapon enhancement and domestic abuse impeding air/blood flow causing injury - receiving a 45-year prison sentence, with 22-and-a-half years mandatory, after accepting an Alford Plea.
Jessica was handed a 35-year prison term, carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of 17-and-a-half years.
Source: Crime
