20-year-old texts mom she’s being held hostage, then she’s found dead, AL police say

A 20-year-old woman texted her mom that she was being held hostage and sent her location with instructions to call the police, Alabama authorities said.

Mahogany Jackson was later found dead from a gunshot wound on the side of a road, according to the Birmingham Police Department.

Now, her family and investigators are seeking answers.

Jackson’s mother, Gail Maddox, told police she got a message from her daughter shortly before 8 a.m. on Feb. 25.

“She sent her location saying don’t call but send the police in a hurry,” Maddox shared on Facebook.

But when authorities arrived, Jackson wasn’t there, Birmingham police confirmed to McClatchy News.

The department put out a missing person alert, and a search party was organized.

Less than 24 hours after Jackson texted her mother for help, a passerby called police to report a person dead on the side of the road, the Birmingham Police Department said in a news release.

When they arrived at around 2 a.m. on Feb. 26, they found Jackson suffering from a gunshot wound, and she was pronounced dead, police said.

“They killed my child,” her mother wrote on Facebook.

Investigators were working to determine if Jackson was killed at the same place where she was found dead, Sergeant Laquitta Wade told WBRC.

Jackson’s death marks the 15th murder investigation of the year in Birmingham, police said.

Investigators are asking those with information to come forward. No one was in custody as of Feb. 26.