Mystery as girl, 8, fails to return home from school, found dead at Mama Lucy Hospital

A family in Kayole area of Nairobi is seeking justice after their 8-year-old daughter died in mysterious circumstances at a time when she was supposed to be in school.

The lifeless body of the Grade 2 pupil, Jennifer Michelle, was found by her parents at Mama Lucy Hospital after an agonizing 5-hour long search.

What remains unclear is how the child got to Mama Lucy hospital, under what circumstances she was taken there and why her parents were not informed.

On Wednesday, May 19, Jennifer Michelle’s parents prepared her for school as was the norm, unaware that she would never return home alive again —she was in good health, and jovial as she was dropped at the school gate by her mother

“Nilimwacha wakicheck mask na temperature…akaniambia bye mum tuonane jioni…,” recounts the girl’s mother Hilda Achieng.

Come evening and the 8-year-old Grade 2 pupil was expected to be back home but she was nowhere to be seen–it was strange. According to the parents she never got home past 5:30pm

“Ilifika 5pm nikaona tu ni kijana yangu amerudi…Michelle hufika 5:30…nikashindwa mbona amechelewa,” adds the mother.

A search for the girl would ensue, calls were made and when it proved futile a missing person report was filed at Kayole police post.

“Nilienda hadi shule nikashika mlango nikapata imefungwa…ilifika point nikaona niende kwa polisi,” says the mother.

The girl’s father, Ayub Owino says: “I was shocked hatuna mtoto hadi saa tatu na simu ata kutoka shule hatujapata…”

After an agonising 5 hours of searching for Jennifer Michelle, a police officer informed the parents of the presence of a girl who fit their daughter’s description at the Mama Lucy Hospital

“Nilichukua motorbike nikaenda Mama Lucy….nikafika kwa daktari akanifungulia curtain nikaona ni mtoto wangu amelala,” she said

According to information from sources at the hospital, the girl is reported to have been brought by unknown people who dumped her at the emergency ward, pretended to be seeking to fill formal admission forms before disappearing into thin air.

“We spoke with the class teacher akasema mtoto aliitwa kwa blackboard akaanguka…but now I’m asking who took the minor to Mama Lucy and at what time?” adds the father.

Our efforts to get answers from the school’s management were futile as our phone calls went unanswered prompting us to visit the school premises where we were turned away at the gate.

Police officers from Kayole Police station are investigating the case with an autopsy scheduled for Wednesday.