Undated photos of Felister Chelimo(now 21), a Kenyatta University student from Kapkiamo village in Baringo North who mysteriously went missing on December 17, 2024 and has not been traced to date.
For nearly one-and-a-half years, a family in Kapkiamo Village, Baringo County, has lived through a nightmare that refuses to end.
Every phone call raises hopes, but with each passing day, the pain of not knowing what happened to their daughter grows heavier.
Felister Chelimo, a Kenyatta University student, disappeared mysteriously in December 2024 after informing her family that she was travelling home for the Christmas holidays. Since then, her whereabouts have remained unknown, leaving her parents trapped in a relentless search for answers.
Her father, Mr Joseph Chelimo, says the last time he spoke to his daughter was on December 16, 2024.
At the time, the second-year Bachelor of Arts Education student, aged 20 at the time of her disappearance, had called from Nairobi and requested money for bus fare to travel home to Kapkiamo village.
“She called me and asked for transport money so that she could come home for the holidays. I sent the money immediately because I was expecting her to arrive the following day,” Mr Chelimo recalled.
But the third-born child in a family of four never made it home. As hours turned into days, anxiety gripped the family. Repeated attempts to reach her were met with frustration, as her mobile phone alternated between being switched on and off.
“When she failed to arrive, we started calling her. Sometimes the phone would go through and other times it would be switched off. That made us fear that something could have happened to her,” said the distraught father.
The family contacted friends, relatives, classmates and anyone who might have known about her movements. No one had answers.
Undated photos of Felister Chelimo(now 21), a Kenyatta University student from Kapkiamo village in Baringo North who mysteriously went missing on December 17, 2024 and has not been traced to date.
“We called everybody we knew who was close to her. We hoped someone had seen her or knew where she was, but nobody had any information,” he said.
Long agonising search
What began as concern soon escalated into a desperate search that has now stretched beyond 18 months.
After searching unsuccessfully for more than two months, the family reported the disappearance at Kabartonjo Police Station. A week later, they also filed a missing person's report with officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Kabarnet, hoping investigators would help unravel the mystery.
However, despite repeated follow-ups, the family says no information has emerged that could lead them to their daughter.
Occurrence reports seen by the Nation were recorded under OB numbers 07/13/1/2025 and 24/07/02/2025.
More than one-and-a-half years later, the circumstances surrounding Felister's disappearance remain unresolved.
Phone tracked
Mr Chelimo recalls making frantic efforts to trace his daughter after she vanished.
According to him, police investigators tracked her mobile phone signal shortly after she was reported missing, placing her in the Kipsangui area of Uasin Gishu County.
Clinging to the hope that the lead would provide answers, he travelled to the area himself, spending days searching villages and trading centres while asking residents whether they had seen her.
Undated photos of Felister Chelimo(now 21), a Kenyatta University student from Kapkiamo village in Baringo North who mysteriously went missing on December 17, 2024 and has not been traced to date.
“When the police tracked her mobile number, it showed that she was in Kipsangui in Uasin Gishu. Desperate to find her, I personally went there and searched everywhere, even asking local residents if they had seen her, but nobody knew anything. I returned home very demoralised,” he told the Daily Nation.
Months later, the trail has gone cold. The devastated father says he has received no fresh information from investigators, while all attempts to reach his daughter through her phone have proved futile.
“Her mobile phone is switched off and I don't know where else to look for her. Her mysterious disappearance has given us sleepless nights because we do not know whether she is safe. It has drained me emotionally and left me devastated,” he said.
The disappearance has been particularly painful because Felister was the first child in the family to join a university. Mr Chelimo says he had high hopes that she would complete her studies and help lift the family out of poverty.
“When she joined the university, I was very happy and proud. I believed she would finish her studies and eventually support me and the rest of the family,” he said.
Having exhausted nearly every avenue in the search for his daughter, he has now turned to social media, sharing her photographs and personal details in the hope that someone, somewhere, may have seen her.
“I have decided to circulate her photos and my contacts on social media so that if anyone spots her or has any information, they can reach me,” he said.
Hopeful parents
Despite the anguish and uncertainty, Mr Chelimo remains convinced that his daughter is still alive. He describes her as disciplined, respectful and soft-spoken, adding that she never had conflicts with anyone that could explain her sudden disappearance.
“If she had died, I believe we would have received some information by now. I am convinced that she is somewhere and alive, and one day she will come back to us. I am appealing to anyone who may have any information about her whereabouts to help us find her,” he said.
Her mother, Ms Aisha Khalfan, says she last spoke to her daughter on the day she was expected to travel home for the long holiday. But Felister never arrived.
Undated photos of Felister Chelimo(now 21), a Kenyatta University student from Kapkiamo village in Baringo North who mysteriously went missing on December 17, 2024 and has not been traced to date.
Ms Khalfan says her daughter’s disappearance has left the family devastated, forcing them to endure endless uncertainty and sleepless nights while clinging to the hope that she is still alive.
“I do not know what happened to my daughter, but I still believe she is alive. She had no disagreements with anyone and there was nothing unusual before she went missing. Wherever she is, I plead with her to come home because we are devastated and worried about her,” she said.
The family has also made inquiries at Kenyatta University, where Felister was pursuing her studies, but established that she never returned to campus after her disappearance.
With investigations yielding no breakthrough, the family is now appealing to anyone who may have seen Felister or has information about her whereabouts to contact authorities or reach out to them directly.
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