A family in Sagana, Kirinyaga County has a reason to smile after the detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) managed to trace and rescue their teenage son who had been missing for seven months.
In a press statement, the DCI said the boy, identified as Muriithi, had fled from his home in Sagana, Kirinyaga County, which prompted the family to report the matter to the police.
The report precipitated a frantic investigation by the sleuths to find the missing boy. They narrowed down their search to morgues, schools, playground areas to no avail.
This past weekend saw Muriithi finally found the detectives, much to the delight of his family.
However, the rescue team was surprised by the boy's explanation that he had fled his home because he wanted a break from his family - following an internal dispute.
Muriithi, who had resorted to hawking pineapples in Sagana, admitted to the detectives that the motive for fleeing was based on a family dispute.
"There was joy and happiness at DCI Headquarters this week following a family re-union, thanks to DCI Homicide detectives.
"This follows a missing person report that was filed on April 6, 2020 where a family had alleged that their son had been kidnapped and feared that he may have been killed. However, last weekend detectives from the homicide unit traced their son to Sagana," read part of the DCI statement.
Netizens took to Twitter to laud the efforts of the detectives in finding the boy while noting that conflict resolution measures could have prevented the dissension within the family.
"Kudos good people for making a family smile, and much more, making them realize the value of listening to each other. Muriithi would not have opted out had one of the family members been keen to give him an ear and a shoulder when he needed one. Keep it there," read one tweet.
Cases of missing children has been on the surge with the 2019 report indicating that the number is tipping towards alarming statistics. According to the 2019 report by the National Crime and Research Centre, Kenya was ranked 17 out of 19 on the list of countries where cases of missing children are rampant.
Close to 30 cases of missing children are reported every day in Kenya as families are haunted by the thoughts of their children's state. In most cases, children are captured not out of their own volition, but through an intricate web of deception which are used by kidnappers.
