An American citizen was arrested after his Kenyan girlfriend went missing for over 2 months in Gillette, Wyoming.
After Irene Gakwa went missing in March, her boyfriend 38-year-old, Nathan Nightman, used her credit cards to shop and make various payments which is against the law in the US.
The media in Wyoming confirmed that Nightman used Gakwa's cards from his home address and police found a total of 10 transactions.
Her Kenyan family living in the United States reported that they last spoke to Gakwa on Facetime on February 24 and they feared that Nightman may have a hand in her disappearance.
“We have a reason to believe that something terrible might have happened since she is not known for being silent for such a long time,” her brother, Chris Gakwa, told the press.
“She used to call our parents almost on a daily basis and also kept in touch with us. My sister is not a silent person because we believe she might not be okay currently.”
US-based media outlets stated that Gakwa met Nightman on a dating website but he immediately started controlling her.
According to her family, Nightman forced Gakwa to move from Idaho to Wyoming. The family stated that they were concerned when they received strange text messages from her phone on March 3.
Detectives have interviewed Gakwa’s close friends and associates and executed about two dozen search warrants with the aim of finding her.
Nightman was arrested after detectives realized he had been using Gakwa's credit cards and had her banking information despite her disappearance.
The suspect denied that he had interacted with her, claiming that she had left Gillette in March and bid him goodbye before boarding a dark-coloured SUV.
Investigators found that Nightman had stolen over Ksh366,600 from Gakwa and also spent Ksh60,000 to purchase a pair of boots and a pair of trousers at a Walmart store.
