Esther Kerubo and her husband Maxwell Mangone at their home in Ndongeri Mutukani/A village in Bahati, Nakuru County, display a picture of their two sons - Alfred Omboto and Vincent Mutar - who mysteriously disappeared in 2020 after people believed to be police took them away from their rented house in Kiondo, Nakuru City.
For almost three years, life has been an unending cycle of hope and despair for three Nakuru families whose loved ones disappeared without a trace.
The disappearances have left families grappling with unanswered questions, wondering if they will ever see their loved ones again or get any closure.
For instance, it has been 36 months since Abraham Mogaka Mogere went missing without a trace in Nakuru's Central Business District. He disappeared on December 13, 2021.
Abraham Mogaka Mogere who went missing on December 13, 2021.
According to his younger brother Felix Ogero, the then fourth-year student at Egerton University had left their home in Section 58 area in Nakuru East sub-County telling his other brothers that he had some errands to run in town.
However, the 29-year-old student never returned home that evening and his phone went off, sending his family into a panic.
He has never been seen again.
Since his mysterious disappearance, the distressed family has searched for him almost everywhere, but their efforts have been futile.
However, in an interview with Nation.Africa on Tuesday, Mogere’s family says they have not given up hope.
In the interview, Mr Ogero recalled that they last spoke with his brother on December 11, 2021, at 8 pm while he was away on a family business trip in Mombasa County.
During the call, Mogere had enquired about the whereabouts of the house keys.
“He was in a jovial mood. He even asked me when I would be back saying we were planning to go to Kisii for Christmas,” Mr Ogero said.
But two days later, when Mr Ogero returned home he was told that Mogere was last seen leaving town but never returned that evening and his phone had been switched off.
“It has been three years of searching for my brother. It is sad when you sit and randomly think of him. It always hurts especially during family events because everyone asks about him. You are just left there wondering where he is and if he is okay, or even alive,” said Mr Ogero.
He explained that his brother never confided in him or any family member about any problems or dangers.
He also never mentioned going anywhere after his errands in town and had left his clothes behind at the house.
Before his disappearance, Mogere used to frequent the Showground, a matatu stage, whenever he had no classes. He would sometimes help ferry passengers in exchange for payment.
When Ogero asked Mogere's friends at the bus terminus about his whereabouts, they told him that he was last seen boarding a motorbike outside the Kenya Farmers Association (KFA) offices.
“My brother is a very quiet person. He preferred doing menial jobs to earn something rather than asking for money from someone. Some of his friends told me that he boarded a motorcycle to town while others said they just saw him leaving alone. Till then, I do not know which is true,” said Ogero.
The family filed a missing-person report at the Central Police Station but authorities have yet to solve the puzzle of his disappearance.
“On December 13, three years since he went missing, we just met as a family and shared stories which reminded us of him. We prayed for his safety hoping he would one day come home. We have never heard anything from the police. The last time my father went to the police station, the officers told him they are still working on it but they haven’t found any leads,” Ogero told Nation.Africa.
In a different but equally shocking incident, four people stormed the rental house of Vincent Mutali Monkone, 25, and his brother Alfred Omboto, 38, in Pemways Estate in Lanet, Nakuru East Sub County, while the two were preparing lunch in March 2022.
The men who posed as police officers but wore civilian clothes ordered the two brothers to step outside, handcuffed them and locked the door before bundling them into a waiting saloon car.
The brothers were driven off and that was the last time they were seen alive.
None of the witnesses could see the number plates of the vehicles used in the incident as they were covered.
Later, the police denied that the abductors were officers.
The then County Criminal Investigation Officer Anthony Sunguti said that the police had not arrested the two brothers because they were not under investigation.
However, their brother Bernard Ayuka says they have not been able to trace the two, leaving the family with tough questions about their whereabouts.
“Early this year, we moved to court and the file was forwarded to the ODPP and later to IPOA. But since then, we have not heard anything. I visited their offices last week and they told me they would call. But since then, I have not heard from them. We feel the government has neglected us,” Ayuka said on Tuesday.
Another family in Kampi ya Moto, Rongai constituency, is yet to find their kin's body to give him a decent send-off after his heroic move.
Constable David Kibet Chesire, who was swept away by floods after heavy rains in Nairobi on March 24, 2024.
Constable David Kibet Chesire, an officer attached to Kamukunji Police Station in Nairobi, was swept away by floods on March 24, 2024, while attempting a heroic rescue of a trapped family.
However, the 33-year-old officer accidentally stepped into an open manhole and drowned. Since then, efforts to trace his body have been unsuccessful. His AK47 rifle, along with 30 bullets, remains missing.
The search for Chesire's body conducted by local authorities and community volunteers was challenging due to the unpredictable nature of the flood waters.
Seven months later, the family remains in grief and the lack of closure has weighed heavily on them. Despite the relentless efforts made by the search teams, they still have not found Chesire's body.
The 33-year-old officer left behind two children, aged nine and four.
Chesire’s sister Purity says that his death was shocking and the fact that his body has not been found has been devastating for the family.
“The prayers of the family are for Kibet’s body to be found so that we can give him a proper send-off. He died a hero while on duty saving other people's lives,” said Purity.
According to Purity, the family held prayers in his honour at their father’s homestead in Nakuru’s Mogotio Sub County. The gathering brought together family members, friends, neighbours, church members and the community to celebrate the life and heroism of the officer.
“We prayed for him following a four-month search for his body that ended without closure. Even if the government ended the search, as a family we are just living with hope that the body will be found. It has not been easy for us,” she said.
Chesire joined the police service in 2017 and went to Embakasi College for training before being posted to Kakamega. After two years, he was transferred to Kamukunji.
Nakuru Human Rights Network director David Kuria called on the ODPP and other relevant bodies to expedite the cases of missing persons to provide families with closure.
“The cases have been on the rise, and yet the President had promised that in his government, he won’t allow such. Families do not know what happened to their kin. It is agony for the families who are still waiting to see even the dead bodies,” said Mr Kuria.
