The search for missing Kenya Forest Service (KFS) Legal Services Manager Esther Wairimu Keige has ended in tragedy after her body was discovered in a coffee plantation in Juja, Kiambu County, nearly a month after she mysteriously disappeared.
The 54-year-old advocate had been missing since June 10 after leaving her office along Kiambu Road. Her body was recovered on July 7 in Area 4 near Karimenu, with Juja Sub-County Police Commander Isaac Kombo confirming the discovery.
According to preliminary investigations, the body was found intact but had undergone significant decomposition, suggesting it had been at the location for some time. Family members later identified the remains before they were transferred to the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital mortuary, where a post-mortem examination is expected to establish the cause of death.
Before the grim discovery, investigators had received information from students at a nearby school who reportedly told police they had seen Keige alive after she allegedly approached them asking for food, raising further questions about her movements after she disappeared.
Detectives have since intensified investigations to reconstruct Keige’s final days and determine the circumstances that led to her death. Authorities are expected to rely on forensic evidence, witness statements and the post-mortem findings as they seek answers in the case.