Police have made significant steps in solving the murder case of Kitengela girl Shantel Nzembi thanks to a number of phone call records.
A report by the Nation on Sunday, June 6, indicated that sleuths from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) unearthed phone records used by the main suspect in demanding ransom after kidnapping the child,
The sim card, which has since been seized and forwarded to the police for forensic audit, was used in demanding as much as Ksh300,000 from the girl's mother.
The records revealed that the suspect was constantly in communication with two other phone numbers a few hours before and after the kidnapping took place.
"We decided to play along, buying time for detectives to locate the caller. At some point, we were kept waiting for a new number to send the ransom.
"We knew we could not afford the money but time was of essence. My last hope to find my daughter alive was on police officers," stated Shantel's mother Christine Ngina.
The key suspect in the case identified as Mutindi Nthuku, was arrested after a raid in his apartment barely 300 meters from where the deceased's body was found.
After investigation, police found that the phone number in question made a total of 51 calls around the time of the kidnapping with most of them directed towards Livingstone Makacha Otengo who is also a suspect in the case.
The two were arrested alongside two other individuals including Franckline Mbuthia and Agnes Kasiva Nzioki.
The initial line, which was unregistered, was used to demand ransom from the parent and the money was expected to be wired through a different unregistered line operated by the same telecommunications company.
The main suspect is said to have approached Shantel while she was playing with other children in the Kitengela Estate and inquired if they knew of any vacant houses in the area. After a while, she was given a motorcycle ride before the kidnappers allegedly reached out to her mother demanding the ransom.
Neighbours to Mutindi indicated that she lived in a bedsitter in the building for over a year but rarely went out during the day.
"Even after she shut down her MPesa business, she still lived large. She was fashionable and her daughter went to a private school," they narrated.
