Missing Embu father, son found dead in Gitaru dam
Gitaru Dam in Embu County where the bodies of a man and his son who went missing were found.
A man and his son, who went missing for three days, were on Saturday found dead at Gitaru Dam in Embu County.
Mzee Julius Mwaniki, 65 and his son Stephen Muriithi, 40 who hailed from Thagana village in Mbeere went missing on Wednesday, only for their bodies to be spotted floating in the dam on Saturday.
The decomposing bodies were spotted by herders who were grazing near the dam before they alerted the police who retrieved them and took them to the Embu Referral Hospital mortuary.
The victims, who had left their home on Wednesday morning to trace their lost livestock in the neighbouring Machakos County, did not return home in the evening.
It is suspected that the duo drowned after a boat they were using to cross the dam capsized after it was hit by a hippo.
“Most likely the deaths of the victims were caused by a hippo," said Mr Sarafino Ndaru.
Mbeere South Sub-County police boss Ms Inviolata Lumati said investigations had been launched to establish the actual circumstances under which the duo met their deaths.
"We have commenced investigations with a view to establishing what happened," she said.
Ms Lumati asked the residents to volunteer information which can assist detectives in unravelling the cause of the death of the two.
Cases of mysterious deaths are on the rise in Embu County, an issue which has raised concern among the residents.
In the last two months, more than ten people have been found dead in the region.
Recently, seven members of the same family were found dead inside their house in Ngimari village in a suspected arson attack.
Detectives are yet to find out the cause of the fire which also left property worth thousands of shillings destroyed.
