Kirinyaga man found dead in mortuary a month after going missing

A 39-year-old man from Mururi Trading Centre in Kirinyaga County who went missing over a month ago was found dead in the Kerugoya Hospital Mortuary following what police suspect to be a murder.

According to his father, Robert Karanja Mwaura, a retired teacher, his son James Mwaura, who worked as a loader in Embu, disappeared last month, prompting a weeks-long search.

“I had been looking for my son in vain until yesterday afternoon when I received a call from detectives in Mwea East Sub-County. They informed me that a body had been taken to Kerugoya Mortuary and they suspected it could be my son,” said Karanja.

He added that detectives from Wang’uru Police Station had earlier visited his home in Mururi but missed him as he was still searching for his missing son in Embu, where he had reported the matter.

Upon visiting Kerugoya Mortuary, Karanja positively identified his son’s body.

“The body had several wounds on different parts. I believe his abductors used blunt objects to kill him,” said the distraught father.

Residents of Murubara discovered the body on September 28, 2025, dumped along the Mwea–Embu Highway. It was initially recorded as that of an unknown person.

Witnesses said signs at the scene suggested a violent struggle.

Francis Muriithi, a light transporter from Ngurubani Town, said the victim’s shirt was found a few meters away from his body.

“It appeared there had been a fight before he was killed,” he said.

Another resident, Phillip Njogu, a boda boda operator, noted that the body had wire marks on the neck and limbs.

“It looked like the killers tied him with wires before killing him. He must have died a painful death,” Njogu said.

Dozens of residents heading to church that Sunday morning gathered at the scene after word spread that an unidentified man had been found murdered and dumped by the roadside.

Karanja, who was accompanied by members of the ACK Mururi Church when identifying the body, said he would give his son a decent burial after a month-long search that ended in tragedy.

The grieving father, who lives alone at Mururi Shopping Centre following the death of his wife in October 2023, said the loss of his only son had left him devastated.

“I survived the 1990 Molo tribal clashes and the 2007–2008 post-election violence, only to lose my wife last year and now my son has been murdered. I’m appealing to police in Embu and Kirinyaga to investigate and bring those responsible to justice,” he said.