Two bodies of four friends who have been missing since April 19 were found in two public mortuaries.
One was found in Murang’a and the other in Thika, Kiambu County, which is about 50 kilometers away from Kitengela, where they had been abducted.
Benjamin Imbai 30, Elijah Obuong 35, Brian Oduor 36, and Jack Ochieng 37, had been missing for two weeks.
The body of Obuong was found near Mukungai stream in Murang’a and taken to the local mortuary last week.
Obuong’s young brother Michael Amollo identified the body Thursday.
Police said they had recovered a third body from Mathioya river in Murang’a county. The body was picked alongside that of Obuong.
The third body was however yet to be identified. Police said they were waiting for the family and friends of the other missing victims to arrive and identify it. The body was taken to Murang’a mortuary where identification will be conducted.
In Obuong’s case, police said they were notified by sand harvesters of a body stashed in a gunny bag under the bridge of Mukungai River along Murang’a-Iyego-Kangema Road on April 20 around 10am. The body had no visible injuries. This was a day after they went missing.
The body of Imbai was also identified at the Thika Level Five Hospital mortuary by his family and friends on Wednesday. They used beards and a tattoo he had to identify him.
The body had been collected from a thicket in the area.
Police said they are yet to know who was behind the murders but investigations are ongoing. A postmortem on the bodies is planned.
The motive of the killings is yet to be known.
A relative of Imbai said they were scared to even speak to the media over the incident.
The search for the other missing men is ongoing amid reports of more bodies being brought to Nyeri since Tuesday.
Efforts by the families of the other men to identify them are ongoing.
The four friends were abducted outside Club Enkare in Kitengela where they had ordered drinks for lunch before they were seen leaving the joint at about 3pm.
According to witnesses, they left towards the parking lot where their white Toyota Mark X of registration plate KCQ 715C was.
It is believed they were abducted by experts because there was no commotion. Their car was found about 500 meters away from the parking lot of the restaurant.
The four were known to be good friends and frequently met.
Imbai lived in Athi River, Obuong in Kayole, Ochieng in Donholm and Oduor in Embakasi.
Imbai’s younger brother, Elvis Imbai said they found the whereabouts of the car as a result of a Facebook post.
“Someone posted on Facebook that a car belonging to my brother’s friends had been parked near a club in Kitengela on April 20. When we got there we found three jackets on the back seat,” he stated.
Elvis alerted Kitengela police officers who towed the car to the station.
Records showed Imbai had at least two pending criminal cases in court.
One case of robbery was pending at the Kibera Law Courts while another one was at Mavoko Law Courts.
Imbai was last year in January arrested alongside six other men for being a member of a notorious gang which robbed a man of Sh900,000 in Buruburu estate.
The gang is said to have trailed their victim from KCB bank Buruburu branch, broke into his car that was parked at a parking lot and made away with the cash.
According to the DCI the suspects executed the crime by posing as customers and joining the victim in window shopping for a car.
“The gang had been operating in major towns using different motor vehicles, some of which are hires and guided with fake number plates which are hired and guides with fake number plates,” the DCI said in a statement then.
Oduor’s wife Cathrine Atieno said she spoke with her husband few minutes before his mobile phone went off.
“We spoke at around 1 pm and he promised to be back on time for my hospital appointment. By 3 pm his phone was off. His friends were also out of reach. I knew something was wrong,” she said
Ochieng’s wife, Monica Wanjiru said her husband had financial struggles as a result of his firm collapsing. She said he sought to regain his financial footing through the meetings with his friends.
“He had been struggling financially but he was a hardworking honest man who gave us the first priority. Before he disappeared, he sent me Sh100 and promised to call later. I noticed his phone was off at 4 pm,” she stated.
Obuong’s mother Caroline said he had bought a four wheel drive vehicle which was involved in an accident from his grandmother’s proceeds.
“The car was declared a write off and he was in the process of buying another one,” she said.
Police said they were also investigating Oduor after a motorcycle he sold to a minor was involved in a fatal accident.
The mother of the minor was mad at Oduor over his move to sell her son the motorcycle that later caused an accident killing a pillion.
Police said they had established Oduor had three motorcycles and sold one of them to a minor a matter that came to the limelight when it was involved in an accident. Officials said the parents’ minor were not aware of the developments and were not happy.
They told police they didn’t know if indeed Oduor had sold or gifted the motorcycle to the minor in Embakasi where he lived.
Oduor was apparently arrested and booked in one of the city police stations but was released two weeks before his disappearance.
Caroline denied her son operated a car hire business saying he was jobless.
She added as a family they sponsored his high end lifestyle from proceeds of relatives living abroad.
“My son used to live a high-end lifestyle and drive flashy cars but he was jobless. We as a family fund his lifestyle and cater for his bills. His grandmother who is would abroad send him enough money,” she said. BY THE STAR