Murder probe opened after bodies of 2 men found in Murang'a river
One of the two bodies found in Thika River, Murang’a County, on May 1, 2021.
What you need to know:
- The bodies had marks that pointed at assault. It is suspected they were dumped in the river after being transported from elsewhere.
The decomposing bodies of two men were Saturday discovered floating in Thika River, Murang’a County.
According to Gatanga Sub-county police boss Peter Muchemi, passersby at Kahuho bridge, that connects Kiunyu village to Kandara, spotted the bodies at about 2pm and alerted them.
Administratively, one body was under the Gatanga Police Division and the other in Kandara Sub-county .
“A joint team of officers went to the scene. Preliminary investigations show the bodies had been in the water for some time," he said, adding the men’s identities were yet to be established "but one looks youthful while the other was 40-something years old”.
The bodies had marks that pointed at assault. It is suspected they were dumped in the river after being transported from elsewhere.
"They were naked and there were no identification documents," Mr Muchemi said.
The Gatanga Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said investigations will help unravel the mystery.
Murder probe opened
DCI boss John Kanda added that nobody had identified the victims and called on families with missing relatives aged 23 to 27 or 40 to 43 to go to Thika town's General Kago mortuary to help with investigations.
"We are treating the issue with an open mind. It is only after postmortem results are out that we can have a background for launching full investigations. So far we are treating it as a crime of murder and the illegal disposal of bodies," he said.
The discovery came amid investigations into the disappearance of four men from Kitengela in Kajiado County on April 19. The four were identified as Benjamin Imbai (30), Elijah Obuong (35), Brian Oduor (36), and Jack Ochieng (37).
So far, three bodies have been found in Murang'a's Mathioya River and Gatundu North's Kieni Forest.
Obuong’s body was the first to be found in the river while that of Imbai was identified at General Kago mortuary in Thika after Gatundu police officers collected it from the forest.
The third body that was retrieved from Mathioya River is yet to be identified.
Inspector-General of Police Hillary Mutyambai gave the DCI 30 days to probe the matter and file a report.
