Family of man whose skeleton was found on maize farm seeks answers
A portrait of Mr Jothan Francis Kimani whose remains were recovered in a maize plantation on November 4, three weeks after he went missing
The death of a man whose skeleton was discovered two weeks after his reported disappearance in Njoro sub-county continues to puzzle his family.
Ms Peris Njoki Mburu and her family want to know what befell Jothan Francis Kimani, 43, whose skeleton was discovered in a maize plantation a few kilometres from his home in Piave estate, Njoro.
Mr Kimani, the last-born in his family, lived alone on his farm. He was said to have left his house on Friday, October 21, but did not return.
Family members who could not reach him by phone became concerned.
Ms Njoki said she travelled to Njoro on Monday, October 24, to help search for her brother. She was joined by her two sisters, Esther Muthoni and Grace Wanjiku, but there were no leads on his whereabouts.
The following day the sisters filed a missing-person report at the Njoro Police Station with the hopes that they would get assistance to find him.
But days turned into weeks without the family getting any report.
“What surprised us is that nobody had any clue about where our brother could be. We kept looking for him everywhere in vain,” Ms Mburu said.
From Left: Peris Njoki Mburu, Esther Muthoni and Grace Maina who are sisters to Jothan Francis Kimani whose remains were discovered in a maize plantation.
But on November 4, she received a phone call from the area chief, who informed her that someone had stumbled on the remains of a human body.
The administrator wanted her to establish whether the remains were of her brother.
Detectives took the remains to the Egerton University mortuary, where they took samples for a DNA test.
DNA analysis positively identified the remains to be of Mr Kimani.
A postmortem was conducted on November 7 to establish the cause of death.
The report showed that the skull was not affected but there were signs of blunt force on one side of his ribs.
Pathologists said the cause of death was chest trauma.
This prompted the family to suspect that Mr Kimani’s death could be a murder.
A few metres across the river from where the body was recovered, police found some clothes, but investigators are yet to establish whether they are his.
Ms Mburu said the police have not told the family anything new.
“The police say they are still investigating the matter, but we feel it is taking a long time,” she said.
The death has thrown the family into mourning and despair, with many questions remaining unanswered.
“We have been running up and down trying to seek answers but in vain. We feel our brother was killed. We would want to know who killed him and why,” Ms Mburu said.
The Directorate of Criminal investigations had taken over the case, said Njoro sub-county Police Commander Isaac Odumbe.
Police are trying to establish the last person who was with Mr Kimani before he died, he added.
“I want to call upon anyone who has information regarding the death of Mr Jothan Francis Kimani to come forward and share it with the police,” Mr Odumbe said.
The family plans to lay Mr Kimani to rest on Friday.
