Ms Luciana Eghwa sits on the edge of her bed, her hands trembling as she clutches a baby's blanket.
The weight of her horrific encounter in a hospital bears down on her, pressing her into the silence of a house that had, only a day before, been filled with the precious sounds of her one-month-old firstborn son.
Now, there is only absence, the kind that is making her life unbearable.
"I lost him on Tuesday. A stranger took my newborn son and I have no way of finding him because I don't know where to start," she says.
Ms Eghwa, 19, says the memory of that moment has been replaying in her mind in endless loops. She regrets having trusted a woman who seemed kind, and in a matter of minutes brought her world tumbling down.
It all began at the Moi County Referral Hospital in Voi, where she had visited with her son, who needed urgent medical attention after he fell ill with the flu.
She was told that since he was not registered under the Social Health Insurance Fund (Shif), she had to add him as her beneficiary or pay out of pocket.
"I could not afford the treatment and I could not add him because I had not carried the (mobile phone) line that I had used for registration. I then sat in the waiting area, trying to figure out what to do next or to call my husband," she narrates.
Luciana Eghwa, during an interview at her home in Voi, Taita Taveta County on May 29, 2025. The 19-year-old mother is seeking help to rescue her one-month-old baby who was stolen.
Photo credit: Lucy Mkanyika| Nation Media Group
After a while, she moved out of the hospital, and that is when a woman appeared.
She describes the woman, who offered to help her son get treated, as calm and friendly.
The woman suggested they go to Ndovu Health Centre, a smaller public facility in the outskirts of Voi town.
She even paid for their boda boda ride, and the unsuspecting young mother, desperate for any form of help, agreed.
"She really seemed helpful. She told me she had come to see a relative who was admitted to the hospital. She even offered to hold my baby when we got there," she recalls.
Inside the facility, Ms Eghwa made inquiries while the woman waited for her. All this while she was seated at the gate.
Luciana Eghwa displays a photo of a woman who is suspected to have stolen her baby in Voi, Taita Taveta County on this photo taken on May 29, 2025. Looking on is her mother, Monica Msae.
When she was told she needed her phone line to register him, she returned to the woman, explaining her predicament.
That was when the stranger handed her a Sh200 note, asking her to find change.
"She said she'd wait with my baby while I got change. I walked from shop to shop, but I couldn't find any," she says.
It had been less than five minutes, but when she returned, the woman was gone. Her baby was gone.
Ms Eghwa rushed back to the Moi hospital, but they were nowhere to be found and she reported the incident at the Voi police station.
"At Ndovu, I looked everywhere, asking people if they had seen them. No one had noticed that we were not strangers to each other. No one knew where she had taken my child," she says, wiping her face with shaking hands.
Luciana Eghwa displays a photo of a woman who is suspected to have stolen her baby in Voi, Taita Taveta County on this photo taken on May 29, 2025. Looking on is her mother, Monica Msae.
CCTV footage seen by the Nation reveals that the woman was spotted at the maternity ward at Moi Hospital making calls.
It is unclear whether she was visiting a relative or using the opportunity to identify a potential target.
Ms Eghwa and her mother, Monica Msae, have tirelessly searched the streets of Voi, reported at police stations across the county and neighboring towns, and knocked on doors, all in desperate hope of finding any clue that might lead them to the missing baby.
"We were told that she boarded a matatu at the Caltex area heading to Nairobi. She then alighted at Mtito Andei, but we don't know how to get there because we don't have the bus fare," Ms Msae says.
As their search continues, they are now clinging to hope and faith that the woman will be identified, arrested, and their newborn safely rescued.
"Since this incident happened, we have not been eating. We are devastated and we are asking for well-wishers to help us rescue our baby," Ms Msae says
Luciana Eghwa, displays a photo holding her baby during an interview at her home in Voi, Taita Taveta County on May 29, 2025. Looking on is her mother Monica Msae.
Photo credit: Lucy Mkanyika| Nation Media Group
Voi Police Commander Fredrick Kinaibei confirmed that the incident has been reported at the station.
He said police have kicked off investigations and are working to get proper leads that could lead to the arrest of the suspect.
Mr Kinaibei stated that police have received CCTV footage from Moi Hospital, which will be instrumental in the investigations.
Further, he said the suspect's photo has been circulated to Mtito Andei police stations and requested them to pass the information to the necessary authorities.
"The mother identified the suspect in the CCTV footage. She is about 45-50 years old. I urge mothers to be very careful with strangers by not leaving their children or belongings with them," he said.
