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Father arrested in mysterious death of toddler in Nakuru
Two-year-old son, Prince Nathan.
For the past three weeks, Ms Jane Kariuki has been holding on to hope that her missing two-year-old son, Prince Nathan, would be found safe and sound.
However, what began as a desperate search for a missing child ended tragically, after a badly decomposed body of the minor was retrieved from River Ndarugu on Sunday evening.
Ms Kariuki on Monday recounted how she learnt from social media about the death of her son.
"I was going on with my daily activities when l stumbled on a social media post, where a woman claimed that the body of a minor had been found in the river.l gathered courage and headed to the river a few kilometers from her house, only to find a multitude of people along the banks and police officers at the scene," Ms Kariuki told the Nation.
“The woman was washing clothes in the river with his children when they spotted the body and called for help. When I arrived there, the officers did not allow me to get closer to the body, but I never read too much into it,” she recalled.
Police were called to the scene, and the remains were retrieved.
The body was taken to Egerton University mortuary.
Ms Kariuki said police officers requested her to avail herself at the facility.
It was here that Prince’s mother, visibly shaken and supported by relatives, identified the remains as those of her son, whom they had been searching for with hopes of reuniting.
The distraught mother only managed to recognize her son's body through the socks, sweater and pullover which the minor wore the day he went missing.
"The body had a deep wound on the stomach and the intestines were hanging out," she explained.
Two-year-old son, Prince Nathan.
"The search is over, but I was not expecting to find my son dead. I have been living with hopes of finding him alive. Thanks to everyone who helped me circulate posters with his photograph. We combed through bushes, nearby paths, and even checked with neighbors, but there was no trace of him. His father was released from custody on Monday last week. I do not know how it will go,” she added.
The minor vanished under unclear circumstances on September 8, 2025, following a domestic quarrel between his parents at their home in Kariobangi village, in Njoro Sub-County.
Ms Kariuki’s husband had physically assaulted her during the altercation and forcefully taken away her mobile phone.
Shaken, she rushed to Njoro Police Station and reported an assault case before going back home.
She hurriedly prepared and left for work in Nakuru City.
She left Nathan with his father at their home in Kariobangi village, and that was the last time she saw him alive.
At around 11am, that day, while on a routine phone call to check on her son, her younger sister, who lived in the same building and usually took care of the minor, delivered devastating news.
"She told me Nathan had been missing for more than thirty minutes, and that they were searching for him. I had to rush back home. Upon arrival, l learnt that my husband was the one who had informed my sister of the minor’s disappearance," she recalled.
Njoro Sub-County Police Commander Stanley Koech said that they have since launched investigations into the incident, after the recovery of the body.
Prince’s father had been arrested in connection with the disappearance of the minor and was taken to court under a miscellaneous application, before detectives sought more days to complete investigations.
"We will sit down with the DCI officers and pick up from where we left off. We are waiting for a postmortem to be conducted to know the cause of death, which will lead to a breakthrough. The father was released after the 14 days had lapsed, and we had not found the minor. But should we find a reason to re-arrest him again, we will, after the postmortem,” revealed Mr Koech.
