Police are pursuing a 19-year-old man suspected to have murdered two ECDE pupils before throwing their bodies into river Sawe in Rachuonyo North, Homabay County.
The suspect is accused of ending the lives of Henry Ochieng, 4, and Vantaly Otieno, 5, from two different families that live in Kawakungu, Kogweno Oriang’ West.
The two bodies were discovered and retrieved from the river on Saturday, September 11.
The main reason for committing the heinous act remains unclear but the suspect has been working at one of the children’s homes.
Area Assistant Chief Faraja Malit said that the man and the minors left home with the suspect to look after cattle as they grazed.
“He left with the kids on Friday but they never came back in the evening. It is then that we were alerted and started looking for the trio,” Malit said.
According to him, the three were last seen at a neighbouring village on Friday evening a few minutes past 6 pm.
A search was launched and only the cattle were found on Saturday afternoon but the kids were not found.
However, hawk-eyed locals managed to spot the clothes of one of the children dumped on the river bank.
“The children might have been strangled before being dumped into the river. The bodies do not have any visible injuries,” he said.
Already, parents of the two children have recorded statements with the police and efforts are underway to trace the suspect who is believed to have gone into hiding.
The bodies were picked by officers attached to Kendu Bay Police Station and moved to Kendu Adventist Hospital Morgue located in Gendia, Homabay County.
