One of the entrances of the Nakuru Level Five Hospital.
Alvin Wambwa had lunch with his father and sibling at their home in Flamingo Estate, Nakuru City, on June 29, 2025, while he was healthy and in high spirits.
The 15-year-old later left to play with friends within the estate but never returned home, raising immediate concern.
Nineteen days later, on July 18, Alvin was confirmed dead, his body lying unclaimed at the Nakuru Level Five Hospital mortuary.
According to his father, Maurice Otieno, what began as a desperate search for his only son ended in devastation when they discovered his body had been at the hospital mortuary for two weeks, labelled simply as “unknown.”
“After Alvin failed to return on June 29, we began searching for him immediately. I reported the matter at Bondeni Police Station. We combed the entire estate and beyond, but he was nowhere to be found,” Mr Otieno recounted.
Mr. Otieno, who works as a tailor in Flamingo Estate, recalled that last Thursday, he received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number.
The sender claimed Alvin had been found in Free Area with a head injury and had first been taken to the local dispensary before being transferred to Nakuru Level Five Hospital.
He rushed to the hospital but was told there was no patient registered under Alvin’s name and no staff could identify the boy from the photos he shared.
Instead, Mr Otieno was handed a list of unknown patients.
“I noticed one record of a 17-year-old male admitted on July 2 in critical condition. The notes indicated he was brought in by good Samaritans in an ambulance, suffering from a head injury allegedly sustained from a fall,” he said.
The unnamed patient died on July 7 while undergoing treatment. His body was moved to the mortuary and remained unidentified until Mr Otieno viewed it.
He identified the boy as Alvin by a distinctive mark on his thumb.
“The mortuary attendants told me the body had been there for two weeks, booked under ‘unknown’. I was still searching for my son, not knowing he had died,” he said.
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He was asked to provide official documentation to claim the body, including a letter from the area chief, a police report and an affidavit from the court.
He plans to complete the process today on Monday, and the family says burial preparations will begin as soon as the body is released.
Mr Otieno revealed he has been raising his two children alone since losing his wife in 2017. Alvin, who had developed health complications, was enrolled in a special needs school.
“I have walked into every police station, hospital and street in Nakuru looking for my son. When I saw the body, he had a scar on his head. They told me he just fell—but I want to know what really happened,” he said.
Their landlord, Annah Kiarie, appealed to well-wishers to help the grieving father give Alvin a dignified burial.
“He has been my tenant for many years. He struggles to even pay rent. Now he is faced with the burial of his son. We pray that well-wishers come to his aid,” she said.
As the family prepares to lay Alvin to rest, they are urging police to investigate the circumstances of his death.
“We want to know how he ended up at the mortuary. Who killed him? What was the motive? Only then can we find peace,” said Mr Otieno.
Police at Bondeni Station said the case would be handed over to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for thorough investigations.
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