All clues in murder of two children lie at police station

Police have retraced the last moments of the two minors whose decomposing bodies were found in a car at the Athi-River Police station.

The investigators have established that Alvina Mutheu, 3, and Henry Jacktone 4, were last seen alive when they walked into Athi-River police station on June 11.

It was around 11 am when the businessman who runs a kiosk outside the police gate claims to have seen the children.

They were alone and not in the company of any adult, the trader told Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) investigators on Friday.

Strangely, the businessman said he never saw the children leaving the police station.

Two hours later, a man and a woman inquiring the whereabouts of missing children came to the kiosk and sought to know if he had had spotted the minors.

The trader is reported to have pointed the parents towards the police station yard where the children were last spotted.

Shopkeeper’s account

The eye witness account has now made it clear to the investigators that all clues they are seeking now lay at the Athi-River police station and officers serving there. On Friday, homicide investigators held a close to four hour meeting at the Athi-River police station where they also revisited the scene of crime.

And after the closed door meeting, the investigators were done with their investigations diary.

They also came up with two theories which they will be scrutinising to unravel the mystery.

Today, the DCI plans to record statements of 15 individuals among them senior and junior police officers.

The shopkeeper, who is so far the only eye witness is also set for more intense questioning.

Still, it remains unclear how the minors, who were barely learning to speak, walked for more than two kilometres from their home to the police station yard.

One theory is that they were following a tractor that was grading roads in their area.

The investigators also met the parents on Friday for the first time since Wednesday when the lifeless bodies of the minors were discovered.

The purpose of the meeting was to among other things cross check the details provided to the investigators by the trader including claims that the parents had sought information from the businessman on their missing children.

The parents are said to have been directed towards the police parking yard by the trader. Recording of statements will start today ahead of the postmortem next week.

Two theories

After analysing the scene of crime, the detectives narrowed down their scope of investigations to two major theories. The first theory is the minors died after suffocating inside the accident car parked at the police station yard.

The second theory, based on the account of a police informer that rogue cops at the police station were part of a wider scheme to cover-up an accident.

Sources within the investigation team said on the night when the children went missing, there were reports that some children had been knocked down by a vehicle.

Details of the exact location of the accident or the vehicle involved were unclear.

After being pointed toward the police yard, the parents are said to have met a senior officer at the parking yard.

They sought to know if the senior officer had spotted any children around the police station compound, but he said he was yet to spot the minors.

He advised the parents to file a report at the station. An OB report was filed at 15.58pm on June 11.

The investigators have also spoken to the Nairobi salesman who discovered the bodies in the boot of his vehicle when he went to collect his car which had been involved in an accident.

The salesman is said to have told the investigators that his vehicle had faulty locks and that anyone could have gained access.

This detail sharply contrasts information given to the investigators by a traffic officer assigned to move the vehicle on May 1. He claimed the vehicle was securely locked and there was no way anyone could have gained access. The investigators hope the postmortem will yield more clues.

The examination is schedule for next Tuesday at the City mortuary.

The owner of the crime scene car said he had gone to the Athi River police station on Tuesday to pick his detained motor vehicle when he noticed a foul smell from the boot of his Toyota Belta.

The vehicle had been lying at the station for over three months after it was involved in an accident along Mombasa road on March 4. 

It is after he opened the boot of his car that he noted the strange ‘cargo’ covered in a black paper bag.

Upon further inspection, he discovered the two lifeless bodies.

Yesterday, Government pathologists were called to the scene to help DCI with the investigations.

The deceased minors Alvina and Jacktone both aged four-years-went missing on June 11 while playing outside their house at KMC Estate in Athi River.