Detectives have traced some items belonging to a man who disappeared on November 8 in Samburu.
Police said a motorbike, sweater and a cell phone were recovered about 900 meters from Kisima town, which is 19 kilometres south of Maralal. They identified the motorbike as the one Bernard Mbuthi, 21, was using before he disappeared.
One of the side mirrors was twisted. Authorities said they would use his phone to trace his last contacts on the morning he went missing.
“Extensive search is ongoing to trace him since he was reported missing. We have located his motorbike and things are moving quite well,” the Directorate of Criminal Investigations said in a statement.
“We will continue to follow up on every piece of information we receive so we would urge anyone who believes they may have seen him to report.”
Samburu Central Sub-County Police Commandant Alex Rotich said they are following crucial leads, adding that no arrests have been made so far.
“We are following crucial leads that we cannot disclose because investigations are not complete yet,” he said.
Mbuthi’s mother, Ms Purity Nyawira, remained hopeful that her son would be found alive. She has had four sleepless nights.
Sitting pensively outside her rental house, she gazed at the southern horizon of Maralal as if it had answers on her son’s whereabouts.
“Everything has come to a standstill. We are doing everything to get answers where he might be. His phone is switched off,” she said.
At around 6am on November 8, Mr Mbuthi left home to sell airtime cards in Maralal town as usual. After he completed his trips in Maralal, he traveled to Kisima for more business.
Around mid-morning, he was reportedly given Sh200,000 that he was supposed to pay his employer in Maralal. Few minutes after receiving the amount, he left for Maralal, but he never got there. All phone calls and texts went unanswered when his employer sought to know his whereabouts.
For about six hours, calls went through before his phone was switched off. Ms Nyawira said they lost contact with him on Monday evening.
“It’s unusual. When his employer informed me that he is not picking up calls, I tried reaching out to him. He didn’t pick calls and that was really strange. We eventually lost connection with him completely on Monday evening,” she said.
“We still believe he is safe wherever he is. We have looked for him in police cells and hospital wards in Maralal.”
Ms Nyawira and the entire family, friends and relatives are worried about his whereabouts, adding that her son had no criminal record.
“He is my first-born son who had just started airtime vending business to earn a living. I just want to see my son. My whole family is having sleepless nights and he was also supporting us financially,” she says.
Ms Nyawira said she reported the matter to the Maralal Police Station but much has not been done to find the whereabouts of Mr Mbuthi. BY DAILY NATION