Tracing the last moments of slain athlete Damaris Muthee

Arab Cross Country silver medallist Damaris Muthee Mutua trained with her Bahraini teammates in the Kapsabet, Nandi County on Saturday.

Four days later, she was found dead in Iten, over 80km from her camp.

Police are pursuing her Ethiopian boyfriend, Eskinder Hailemaryam Folie, who is the main suspect in the murder.

The Bahraini team is currently preparing in Kapsabet for the 2022 World Athletics Championships set for Eugene, Oregon, USA.

Damaris had dinner with her team-mates that Saturday evening before everybody retreated to their room for the night only for the middle distance runner to disappear until she found dead on April 19 in Iten, Elgeyo-Marakwet County.

Her coach Gregory Kilonzo says the camp is devastated.

“We broke training for the day on Saturday so that everybody could have a rest day on Sunday. We expected everybody back in training on Monday,” Kilonzo said.

Kilonzo says they were together in camp, had supper and then on Sunday morning, “we did not see her at breakfast."

“It was the same at lunchtime. I thought the girl was still resting or maybe she had gone to church or to the shop. In the evening, we again did not see her. I tried calling her cell phone but it did not go through. I asked her friends to do the same, so everybody called but calls did not go through,” he narrated.

Kilonzo says he asked the rest of the athletes to "sleep and not to think so much about it."

On Monday, Damaris did not show up for training again.

“She used to train at the Iten camp before joining the national team camp here in Kapsabet. It is normal for athletes to join their training camps or go home after training. We know her camp is in Iten. We were surprised that she was not there. We did not see her on Monday. We went to her house on Tuesday but only her clothes were there," added the coach.

Kilonzo says they became suspicious because they did not have any information of her whereabouts.

“Later on Tuesday afternoon, we got information that a female athlete had been found dead in a house in Iten. All the way from Kapsabet, she had gone to Iten and not just her house, but a man’s house. We are worried here, even training has stopped. Everybody is worried, nobody has got the strength to go to training at this moment."

"It’s very sad for you to be with someone enjoying training, even at the end of the day, do analysis of how the day went, and then the next day the person is nowhere to be see. Two days later you find out she is dead.”

He explained that Bahrain athletes have pitched training in Kapsabet to prepare for the World Championships and the Diamond League. The Diamond League starts on May 13 with the Doha leg in Qatar, while the World Championships take place in the USA in July.

“We have about six athletes here. They include Ruth Jebet (2016 Olympics 3000 metres steeplechase gold medalist), Rose Chelimo (2017 World marathon champion) and Violah Jepchumba among others. Some stay at their homes and come here to train. Damaris had trained with us on Saturday. We don’t know what made her go to Iten,” added Kilonzo.

Her death comes after Kenya lost two female athletes, Agnes Jebet Tirop in Iten and Edith Muthoni in Kerugoya, to gender-based violence lat year.

A friend of Damaris's family, Jane Muia, told Nation Sport that the 28-year-old athlete comes from Masinga, Machakos County.

“Her father is alive but her mother is deceased,” said Ms Muia.

Police have launched a manhunt for the Ethiopian runner who has allegedly fled the country.

Damaris represented Kenya as a junior athlete and won bronze medal in 1,000 metres at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore and the East African junior athletics championships in Khartoum, before switching her allegiance to Bahrain.