A Des Moines woman who asked to be identified only as Luna says she was kidnapped from her own home in December 2023 and driven to Indianola against her will by her ex-partner and his new partner, who then bound her, blindfolded her, and nearly killed her. Police said she was tied up and blindfolded for hours before the attack turned deadly serious, and criminal complaints say she was choked, run over by a vehicle, and had her throat cut. Nearly two years later, both of her attackers are behind bars, and Luna is speaking publicly again about how she survived.
According to KCCI, police say the 32-year-old woman was kidnapped and taken to Indianola against her will, then tied up and blindfolded for hours. Criminal complaints describe her being choked, run over by the vehicle, and having her throat cut during the ordeal. Luna told the station she managed to pull the knife from her own throat and refused to let go of her attacker’s hand as she fought to survive. “I was able to roll over after I got the knife out of my throat, and I wouldn’t let go of his hand,” she said.
Luna was eventually dropped off on a street by Clarke County Hospital and went to the hospital for help before being transferred to a Des Moines hospital for surgery on her injuries, the station reported. The attack came after months of escalating conflict with her ex-partner, Jordan Mangum, and prosecutors say it was carried out alongside his new partner, Jessica Wheeler, as part of a scheme to pressure Luna into dropping a domestic-assault case against him.
A Relationship That Turned Violent
Luna, whose legal name is Kitara Cox, spoke to the Des Moines Register about the case. Cox and Mangum have a son…