Agony as girl vanishes with her hosts’ child

• The two did not come back home after they were sent to buy vegetables on September 9

A family in Eldoret is in agony after their five-year-old child disappeared with a girl they were helping to locate her mother.

Explaining the loss of their daughter, Sylvia Atieno, Mr Charles Omondi and his wife Lilian Adhiambo, said that the child had accompanied the 13-year-old girl to buy vegetables from nearby vendors in Huruma Estate.

Mr Omondi, a caretaker at Huruma Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church, said the girl, who identified herself as Valentine, was brought to them by a woman after she said her mother was an SDA follower.

“The girl had stayed with us since the evening of August 25 and she had become free with my children. We took her in because she had associated her mother with our church, hoping it could be easier to locate the mother,” Mr Omondi said.

He added: “We made an announcement twice in the church in case someone knew her mother or relatives and we were in the process of exploring other avenues when the two went missing.”

He said his daughter and the girl had been sent to buy kales (sukuma wiki) worth Sh20 in the evening of September 9, but they did not return home.

“We became nervous when they took too long to return. We started searching for them, but we could not find them. It’s now almost two weeks with no clue of their whereabouts.”