Families agonise over school girls Dorothy Apiyo & Lena Nzembi who went missing in 2020

Pamela Adhiambo, a landscaper in Karen estate is lost in thought wondering where her daughter Dorothy Apiyo may be.

It has been almost a year since she left Aolo Girls Secondary School in Homa Bay County and she has not been seen since then.

“Vile alitoka shule niliambiwa sasa kupiga simu nyumbani kuuliza ameenda wapi wakasema hawajui nikawaambia waulize wale wako karibu kwa sababu ju ya corona mimi singeweza kuenda nyumbani,” Pamela said.

But in October last year, almost eight months after Apiyo left school, her mother received a strange phone call.

“Nikaskia simu nikachukua nikaskia ni Dorothy akaniambia anakaa Kitengela nikamuuliza kama ameoleka akasema hapana anakaa na rafiki yake. Nilipoongea na yule rafiki akasema alimsaidia alipompata Nairobi na akaniambia nimpe fare akuje nyumbani,” the mother added.

That ray of hope quickly turned to desperation after the owner of the strange number allegedly travelled to Bondo and switched off the phone prompting Pamela to report to matter to Karen Police Station.

“Huyo CID aliongea akaniambia ju anataka kurudi shule wakati watafungua shule atakupigia simu na akipiga wewe ukuje na tutajua ako wapi lakini hajawai piga simu ingine hatujui ako wapi,” Pamela lamented.

Miles away, the family of Lena Nzembi, a 17-year-old Form Three student at Maliku Girls Secondary school is also looking for their daughter.

Lena went missing on May 24, 2020 from her father’s home in Nzeve village, Lower Yatta region.

According to the father, Mutinda Moni, she left home with a bag full of clothes but failed to inform the family members where she was heading to.

Efforts to trace her using the police and social media have been futile and the family is now appealing to anyone with information to report to the nearest police station.

The two cases are not isolated as reports of girls disappearing from their homes have been rampant especially during the COVID-19 pandemic period.