For these families, search for missing loved ones is a daily nightmare

Monicah Makhungu Jared 

“Every morning when I see my daughter’s school uniform, my eyes well up, and I feel a knot tighten deep in my belly,” says Enock Mudavadi, the pain of losing his child etched on his face. 

Four years after Monicah Makhungu Jared went missing, the sight of her clothes keeps her memory alive for her parents. 

Every day, they hope she will come back to make their family complete again, but their optimism is fading. 

On the evening of October 1, 2016, a Saturday, Monicah was playing with her friends just outside her home in Donholm, Nairobi. Her mother was in the house and her father, still at work, was looking forward to joining the family later in the evening. 

It was his pay day, and when he got home from work, he took his wife and daughter shopping. Mother and child went back home as he joined his friends to watch a football game. 

An hour later, he received a distressing call -- his little girl was nowhere to be seen.

“When I got home, roughly an hour and a half later, I found my neighbours perplexed. I asked one of the children she was playing with what happened. My daughter’s friend told me that a man with dreadlocks went aside with my daughter after asking her for water. I suspect she was drugged,” says Enock.

He reported the incident at Mukuru Kwa Njenga police station, and the following day went to the next station in Mukuru Kwa Reuben.

Monicah was only three and a half years old at the time and had just joined kindergarten. 

“Life has been hard since my daughter disappeared. I miss walking her to school every morning. I think of her and I get stressed,” says Enock.

The search for his daughter took a toll on him. It even affected his performance at work and he lost his job. His wife too, has never been the same. 

When Monicah disappeared, the couple was expecting their second child, who arrived nine days after the disappearance.

There has been no development in the search for Monicah, and Enock accuses police of being slow. 

He considered hiring a private investigator, but the cost put him off.
“The police officers I reported the incident to told me they will contact me if they hear of a lost and found child. Had she died, I would have handled it and made peace with it. But this is different and too unsettling,” he says.

Elly Atsenga 

When Kenyans were watching the lunar eclipse on July 27, 2018, Elly Atsenga was in the flat he shared with his brother in Roysambu, studying for his exams. He was a second-year diploma student of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing at the Regional Centre for Mapping and Resource Development in Kasarani, Nairobi.

His elder brother, Geoffrey Atsenga, left him studying at around 8pm to join other Kenyans in watching nature’s wonder. The flyover at the Roysambu stage offered a vantage point for viewing the eclipse.

“I enjoyed the view,” he says.

However, while he was enjoying the view, something was happening at his rented flat that is still a puzzle.

“I went back to the house at around 10pm. I did not find my brother. His books stared at me. I was shocked, but I thought, maybe he also went out to watch the lunar eclipse,” narrates Geoffrey.

Distressed, he went out to look for him. His brother’s classmates and friends said they had not seen him. He went back to the house, hoping his 20-year-old brother would show up in the morning. He did not.

“That morning I reported the case to Kasarani Police Station after confirming with all relatives that my brother was not at their place,” he says. 

“At the station, I was told the matter could not be confirmed as a missing person’s case until after 36 hours and I went back home,” Geoffrey recalls.

Their mother, upon hearing about her son’s disappearance, left her Kakamega home for Nairobi. Elly’s father, Julius Atsenga, followed a day later.

He was in Nairobi on the day the police started the investigations into his missing son.

“I had great hope that he would be found, at that time. He did not have any misunderstanding with anyone,” says the father. “He was a promising and energetic child, and we hoped he would lift us out of the situation we are in since I lost my job so many years ago at Kenya Airways. My wife, too has no source of income.” 

Since Sunday, July 29, 2018, the family has been frequent visitors at the criminal investigations desk at Kasarani Police station. 

Elly’s school also stepped in.

The police tried to find him by tracing his phone, which showed that it was in the house, but they could not find it. For almost a year, together with the police, the family searched for Elly in mortuaries and hospitals, while checking with other police stations.

“I had to sell part of my land to help in the investigations, spending almost Sh100,000 trying to find him,” says Julius.

Life has never been the same for the Atsengas. 

“My wife thinks of her missing son so much it has affected her eating. The police told us that it is easier to find a dead person than a living one, and we hope he is somewhere, alive and that he will come back home someday. We miss him dearly,’’ says Mr Atsenga.

Kenneth Keter 

Earlier this year, a family in Motobo, Kericho County, was in distress. Their 28-year-old mentally ill son, Kenneth Kipyegon Keter, had vanished. 

His brother, Abdul Keter tells the Nation that Kenneth was last seen at Nyagacho trading centre, at 8pm, alighting from the boot of a Toyota Probox operating as a matatu. 

Someone said Kenneth had been drinking in a local bar. He then went to Kericho town and returned in the Probox.

The family reported the matter to the police station the following day.  Kenneth, who was last seen wearing a pair of jeans, a red t-shirt and white sports shoes, is yet to be found. 

"We have looked for him in several towns -- Nakuru, Kisumu, Muhoroni, Bomet and Nairobi. We have even used posters and made announcements on local radio stations, visited mortuaries, shown up when someone who drowned is pulled out of a river, but none of these visits has yielded fruit," says Abdul.

“Saying that our mother has been devastated is an understatement. She talks about him often. And even though he is an adult, he still remains her baby,” says Abdul.

His brother, whom Abdul says may have been intoxicated at the time of his disappearance, was used to drinking. But, says Abdul, even when he was tipsy, he would get home.

“We miss our son and brother, and we hope to find him and bring him back home someday.’’

Joseph Kipkemoi Mutai 

On November 5, 2016, Joseph Kipkemoi Mutai disappeared from his home in Bomet.

Mutai, nicknamed Chifta by his village mates, was battling a mental condition. 

According to his wife, Winnie, he had been in and out of hospital. His condition progressively deteriorated, leading him to become violent.

"He got to a point where he would chase us away from home in the evening. We would spend the night at our neighbour’s house and come back home in the morning to make breakfast and prepare the kids for school,” says Winnie.

"Before he disappeared that morning, he had threatened to kill us. We hid in the bush and a few minutes later, he passed by without noticing us. That was the last time we set our eyes on him," she recollects. 

The family has looked for Mutai in various places including Bomet, Kericho, Nakuru and Naivasha towns. 

They have had to deal with false leads, which have cost them money.

“A village mate told us that he had spotted my husband in Maai Mahiu and that he asked for lunch money,” says Winnie.

“Instead, our village mate asked him to get into the car with him and come back home. He refused and walked away,” she recalls. 

The family learnt of the incident three days later, and when they went to Maai Mahiu, they did not find Mutai.  

“Next, we were told he had been spotted in Chebole, but when our team went there, they learnt that it was a false report,” she says.

A series of false reports followed thereafter, draining their pockets.

They have to pay for lodging and meals for three days for the people helping in the search.

“We keep looking for him, and we hope he is alive. However sick he is, we just want him home,” says Winnie.

Is your relative or friend missing? Do you know of a family that found their loved one after years of searching? Contact us. 

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