Have you seen my daughter?
A Sunday that began like any other turned into a nightmare for a Kisumu family after 14-year-old Tashley Akinyi vanished without a trace, leaving her loved ones in anguish and panic.
It all started on March 23, 2025, after a Mass at St Theresa’s Cathedral Catholic Church in Kibuye, Kisumu.
A few minutes to midday, the priest delivered the final blessing, “Go in peace, the Mass has ended”, and the congregation responded in unison, “Thanks be to God”.
It was at that moment that Rose Adongo made what seemed like an ordinary decision, but one she now regrets painfully.
She informed her granddaughter that she would not accompany her back home as usual because she still had a Catholic Women’s Association (CWA) meeting to attend.
“We go to church every Sunday, and this day was no different,” said Ms Adongo at her home in Arina estate.
“I told her to go home and have lunch while I attended the CWA meeting. If I had known this would be the last time I’d see her, I would have held her back so we could leave together," she said.
Akinyi, a Grade Seven pupil at MM Shah Primary School, left the church wearing a white dress, jungle-green shoes and donning short hair. She had been freshly shaven.
“When I got home at around 3 pm, I asked her mother if she had arrived, but she was nowhere to be seen,” recalls Ms Adongo.
At first, the family assumed that the teenager had gone to visit friends or relatives and would return shortly. But as dusk fell and there was still no sign of her, panic set in.
Her mother, Irene Adongo, recounts the frantic hours that followed.
“We searched the entire neighbourhood, called her friends, checked every place we could think of. When we couldn’t find her, we reported the matter at Kondele Police Station the following day under OB No 54/24/03/2025,” she explained, tears welling up in her eyes.
The 34-year-old woman disclosed to Nation.Africa that ever since her daughter went missing, her nights have never been the same.
"We have searched everywhere, including hospitals, but there’s been no sign of her. Tashley is my only child," she said.
The single mother, who does menial jobs for her livelihood, described her daughter as her everything.
"I am pleading with anyone who has information about her whereabouts to report to the nearest police station,” she said.
But as days continue to pile on, fear mixed with anxiety seems to take its toll on Akinyi’s family whose only prayer and wish is that she be found safe and sound.
“All I can ask God is to keep her safe wherever she is. It is so painful to lose someone but it hurts more when you don’t know their whereabouts,” she lamented.
The disappearance of the teenager has left the Arina estate community in distress. Estate leader, Sam Odemba, confirmed that an extensive search has been conducted without success.
“I received the report about the missing girl at around 9 pm on Sunday after the family reported the matter to the police. We quickly mobilised a community search effort bringing on board my counterparts from the neighbouring Manyatta and Nubian estates. We have checked with her friends, schoolmates and relatives but we haven't found any leads,” Mr Odemba said.
The authorities are now appealing to members of the public to volunteer any information that could help reunite Tashley with her family.