Missing teen found dead on river bank in Embu

The student went missing from his parents' home on October 18, 2020

Photo credit: File

What you need to know:

  • The student went missing from his parents' Gakwegori Village home on October 18, 2020 and was found dead on Wednesday.
  • The teen’s body was spotted by villagers who reported the matter at Itabua police station.

The body of a secondary school student who went missing for three days has been found dumped on a river bank in Kangaru Village, Embu County.

The Form Two student, identified as Immanuel Derick Munene, 17, had stab wounds on his neck, an indication that his end was brutal.

Following the murder, officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations are trying to establish who are behind the boy's murder and the motive of the crime.

The student went missing from his parents' Gakwegori Village home on October 18, 2020 and was found dead on Wednesday.

The teen’s body was spotted by villagers who reported the matter at Itabua police station.

It was then that the police went to the scene and took the body to Embu Referral Hospital for postmortem.

According to the boy's parents, the family went to church in the morning, leaving their son at home. On returning in the afternoon, he was missing.

Disappearance

His mother, Roselyne Muthoni, said she learnt of her son's death with great shock.

"He was my only child and when I heard what happened to him, I almost collapsed," she told the Nation.

On learning of the boy's disappearance, the parents looked for him in the neighbourhood and other places but they could not trace him.

The parents said they sensed something was amiss when Munene's phone went unanswered.

"When we called him on his cellphone, he could not be reached as it had been switched off," Ms Muthoni recalled.

Ms Muthoni recollected how she and her husband reported the matter to the local chief and at Mutunduri police post in order to be assisted to trace their missing son.

"We reported the matter on Tuesday and went back home. While at home, we were informed that the body of a young male person had been recovered and that we should go to the mortuary to identify it.

On arrival at the mortuary, we were shown the body which we positively identified as that of our beloved son," Ms Muthoni said.

Painful death

The parents wondered why their son was killed.

"We want to be told who murdered our son, and why," said Ms Muthoni.

Munene was a student at Kanyuambora Secondary School. His parents described him as a hard-working and humble boy who did not deserve such a painful death.

"We would like those who committed the crime to be exposed and prosecuted," Ms Muthoni said.

County Police Commander Daniel Rukunga asked the grieving parents to be patient as police are doing everything possible to identify and apprehend the killers.

"We are taking the matter seriously and we shall not rest until those involved are brought to book," he said.