Iowa man accused of cutting teen’s throat and hiding her body

FARNHAMVILLE, Iowa (TCN) -- A 21-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of killing a missing teen and hiding her body.

On Sept. 22, the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office received a report about a 17-year-old who had gone missing in Farnhamville. The sheriff’s office called the victim M.J. in the press release, but WHO-TV identified the victim as Michele Jackson. Investigators began searching for Jackson and, in the process, arrested Nathaniel Bevers-McGivney. WHO reports he was first taken into custody for abuse of a corpse.

Jackson’s body was found on the morning of Sept. 23. In an update, the sheriff’s office announced Bevers-McGivney’s charges were upgraded to first-degree murder.

Bevers-McGivney’s criminal complaint alleges he "committed murder in the first degree by willfully, deliberately, and premeditatedly cutting the throat of M.J., a 17-year-old girl, with a knife, with the specific intent to kill M.J."

WHO reports Jackson’s mother and sister found Bevers-McGivney, who was allegedly "covered in apparent blood." He also had the victim’s scooter and other belongings with him.

The sheriff’s office did not reveal whether Bevers-McGivney and Jackson knew each other prior to her killing.