Gruesome Details Surrounding Greenbelt Teacher's Death Disclosed In Court Documents

Warning: This news story contains graphic details about the death of a homicide victim and may be disturbing.

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — Charging documents in the slaying of beloved Prince George's County teacher Mariame Toure Sylla, 59, reveal a gruesome description of the state her body was found in, although a specific cause of death has not been released.

Harold Francis Landon III, 33, of University Park, who didn't know Sylla as far as investigators have determined, is charged with murder in the case. Sylla's remains were found dismembered and her head decapitated in a manner consistent "with a machine cut such as a reciprocating saw," WUSA9 reported.

Sylla was reported missing after she left her home in the 6500 block of Lake Park Drive in Greenbelt July 29 to go on a walk. She was last seen in her condominium community around 8 p.m. that night. She was an avid walker and enjoyed strolling through a nearby park.

The Dora Kennedy French Immersion School third-grade teacher told her son she was going for a walk before sunset prayer, but never returned, Patch previously reported.

Sylla and Landon did not not know each other, though they lived near each other, according to WJLA.

Documents obtained from the District Court of Maryland for Prince George's County describe how Sylla's body was found and how police worked to identify Landon as her killer.

Around 6:20 p.m. Aug. 1, local police were alerted to a body found on the rocks near a pond in the Clinton area. Emergency workers found the remains of a person who had been decapitated and dismembered. This was three days after Sylla had disappeared.

Documents indicated investigators could tell the victim was a non-Caucasian female, but the remains did not bear any identifiers such as a tattoo. The body was taken to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy that was performed Aug 2.

Investigators say the autopsy concluded the dismemberment was consistent "with a machine cut such as a reciprocating saw," WUSA9 reported.

Detectives working on Sylla's case were alerted to the finding of remains in Clinton. They went to her home and gathered up personal belongings to use in DNA testing against the remains found in Clinton.

In the meantime, a witness told police that on July 31 around 9:30 p.m., they saw a white man in a white pick-up at the pond near where the victim's remains had been discovered. The man was carrying something and appeared to dump it in the area where the body had been found, WUSA9 shared. The witness provided a description and photos taken of the man. The witness said the man walked around the pond and cleaned his hands in the water, DC News Now reported.

Investigators found footage from July 31 of the white pickup truck in a parking lot near the pond where the body was found.

"A short time later, the vehicle's lights turned off and proceeded on the grass down to the pond area where the witness described seeing the male removing and carrying an item from the interior of the truck," documents disclosed. "The vehicle then returned to the parking lot near the entrance and stopped for a short period of time."

When Landon was arrested for a separate incident Aug. 1, he was seen in a white pick-up matching the one seen parked at the pond. He was arrested by the Greenbelt Police Department for an unrelated domestic violence case. Court documents stated that Landon tried to stab his ex-girlfriend and her friend. They were able to get the knife away from him and run off. The ex-girlfriend had a protective order in place against Landon, WUSA9 reported.

Court documents reveal that detectives pulled cell phone records for Landon that placed him and Sylla both at the Schrom Hills Recreation Center July 29 around 7 p.m. - an hour before she was last seen. Cell phone records also place him at the pond July 31, the day before Sylla's body was found.

On Aug. 31, investigators searched Landon's residence and recovered several power tools, including a reciprocating saw, which were seized for further analysis. Landon then was officially arrested as a suspect in Sylla's murder.

“Ms. Sylla was a beloved teacher and member of the Greenbelt community. Her murder is tragic," Chief Malik Aziz said in a statement. "We hope the arrest of Landon provides some comfort to her family and all who knew and loved her."

Landon has been charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault and disposing of a body in an unauthorized place in connection to Sylla's death.

A motive remains under investigation, ABCNews stated.

"I just think we have a person who decided to go out and commit a horrific crime," Aziz said.

Anyone with information relevant to the investigation should call detectives at 301-516-2512.

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