Ms Rebecca Wanzala displays a portrait of her missing husband at Kitengela town on April 8 2026 .
On Thursday, March 26, 2026, at 5.56 pm, a middle-aged man was captured on CCTV camera being forced out of his car by three masked men, handcuffed and bundled into a white double cabin vehicle before speeding off.
That man was Fortune Muthina Kinyanzui, 34, who vanished without a trace a fortnight ago, according to his family whose frantic efforts to find him have hit a snag.
On Wednesday afternoon when Daily Nation visited the family at their rental house within Njenga Place in Kitengela township, Kinyanzui's wife Rebecca Wanzala, 27, sat on the couch holding her missing husband's printed photograph in tears while a male relative sat beside her, trying to calm her down.
"It's not well for me and our two children. The first born has been spending sleepless nights waiting for his dad to come back home. Its very painful ordeal," Said Wanzala.
Missing 34 years old Fortune Muthina Kinyanzui.
During the interview, her cold gaze signified perhaps the emptiness that has engulfed the house for the past two weeks since the head of the home was picked by unknown individuals.
A pair of sports shoes Kinyanzui previously wore still lay at the doorstep, dirt-stained. Three of his baseball caps lay on one couch and a Liverpool Football Club banner, his favorite team according to his wife, hung loosely on the wall.
Ms Wanzala told Nation that on that fateful evening, her husband stepped out of the house around 5.30 pm for a leisure drive within the town as usual after work. The couple runs a water purification outlet in Kitengela town for a living.
She said she got alarmed around 8 pm when her husband failed to return, considering he was supposed to travel to his rural Makindu home in Makueni County for a pool table business the following day.
She called him but his phone had been switched off, sending cold shivers down her spine.
Around 10 pm, she left the house for Mlolongo town in Machakos County, at least 15 kilometres from Kitengela, searching for him in clubs he frequented. No one had spotted him.
On Friday, March 27, she made a missing person report vide OB No 77 at Kitengela Police Station, only later to be informed by police officers that her husband's missing grey saloon car had been towed to the same police station after it was reported abandoned while the engine was still running on Thursday evening, March 26.
The car is currently at Kitengela Police Station as one of the centres of interest in ongoing investigations.
"After failing to get him on phone, I later combed all the entertainment joints he frequented at Mlolongo town but no one had seen him nor spotted his car. I felt some butterflies and my feet became cold when I was shown his vehicle in a parking lot within the police station. Since then, the fear of unknown has enveloped me," she said.
Ms Wanzala's recounting of the CCTV videos she had a glimpse of from Kitengela Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers coincides with the occurrences captured on a CCTV camera seen by Nation at a business premises near where Kinyanzui was picked on that fateful evening.
Masked men
At 5.50 pm, Kinyanzui's saloon car was captured exiting Namanga Highway opposite Enkale Club onto a rough road, at least 20 minutes after leaving his house, according to his wife's account of events.
At 5.51 pm, a white double cabin vehicle that seemed to have been trailing him was captured blocking his way. Three men wearing masks alighted from the double cab in a huff and were recorded trying to force the driver's door open to no avail.
A standoff ensued for a further two minutes before Kinyanzui's driver's door was yanked open. At that moment, Kinyanzui was recorded arguing with the men briefly before he was pulled out of his car.
Around 5.55 pm, the men were captured handcuffing Kinyanzui, who was resisting but was seemingly subdued and thereafter forced into the rear seat of the double cab, sandwiched between two of his captors who boarded from different rear doors.
The vehicle was then recorded speeding off by 5.56 pm. It's registration number was not clear from the recording.
According to the police report coinciding with witnesses Nation interviewed, the vehicle was abandoned with the driver's door open and the engine still running.
"I had just returned to our boda boda picking point after dropping a customer when I noticed a brief commotion. A man was forced out of his saloon car before he was bundled into a double cab. The salon car engine was on when it was abandoned at the middle of the busy feeder road," said a boda boda eyewitness in confidence.
Ms Rebecca Wanzala peeks at his missing husband's vehicle at the Kitengela Police station on April 8 2026.
Mr Kinyanzui's abduction took place a few metres away from the spot where four young men christened the "Kitengela Four" were similarly abducted by unknown individuals posing as police officers in April 2021, only for their bodies to be recovered in a river in Murang'a County stashed in gunny bags, shocking the country.
The quartet's saloon car had been abandoned at the parking lot and their phones switched off.
"My husband is an introvert lone ranger with very little friends. He prefers unwinding by chewing Mira's (khat) in his vehicle," said Ms Wanzala.
She added: "A week before his abduction, he told me a vehicle had trailed him on his way back home in the evening but he did share more details. Let the police expedite the investigations to find my husband whereabouts. In case he wronged anyone, he should be produced in court,"
Mr Charles Maitha, a relative, told Nation that Kinyanzui kept to himself and was always ready to extend a helping hand to relatives.
"My cousin (Kinyanzui) calm demeanor has been a soft spot among relatives. We(family) are seeking answers on the identity of individuals who picked him and the motive," Said Maitha.
Isinya Sub-County Criminal Investigation Officer Wanga Masake said detectives from DCI headquarters were conducting intensive site analysis involving phone signal triangulation to determine the people who came near him before his phone was switched off.
"The investigation is under way. Sleuths are pursuing several leads that might unravel the mystery surrounding the abduction captured on CCTV cameras. Detectives has since obtained the CCTV footage that is undergoing advanced analysis to identify individuals and the getaway vehicle registration number," said Mr Wanga.
He promised for a comprehensive preliminary investigation report next Tuesday.
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