Riddle as policewoman goes missing
Mystery surrounds the disappearance of a police officer who was lured to Oyugis township in Homa Bay county by her estranged husband on July 30.
Questions over the disappearance of Constable Eunice Achieng’ Okal mounted at the weekend after her former husband, John Owuor Odiango, was said to have committed suicide on Friday, in Kanyaluo, Rachuonyo South, Homa Bay county. His body was found dangling from a rope tied on the roof of his house.
Last evening, it emerged the missing police woman’s phone had been switched off around Kilgoris town in the neighbouring Narok County on the day she was picked up by her now deceased husband.
It also emerged that hours before he committed suicide, Odiango had called the missing officer’s housegirl, asking her to dispatch the couple’s three children to his Oyugis home.
Investigations
“Investigations show that he called the housegirl persistently on Friday, insisting that the three children be sent to him, he promised to send the house girl money for the children’s bus fare to Oyugis,” said an officer familiar with the investigations.
The house girl is, however, said to have sensed danger given the way Odiango insisted on taking custody of the children and instead took them to the police woman’s sister who lives in Kisii county.
Odiango is believed to have committed suicide hardly one hour after making the calls.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have launched investigations to trace the missing officer and also establish why the man, who is the prime suspect in the disappearance, took his own life.
“The man could have killed himself to avoid facing the law or could not come to terms with the separation. Separation and divorce always raise the suicide risk,” said a senior officer.
“We hope she will be found alive. We are, however, concerned that she has not been heard of or been seen for over a week by those who might be expected to know if she was okay,” he added.
The missing officer, who is attached to Nyanchwa police station in Kitutu Central, Kisii county, was last seen with her former husband who had told her he was going to give her Sh250,000 from a business they formerly co-owned in Oyugis township, about 22 kilometres away on the main Kisumu-Kisii highway.
“She was last seen with her ex-husband John Owuor Odiango who lied to her that he was going to give her Sh250,000 as her share in the business they owned in Oyugis,” a police report reads.
Constable Okal had earlier applied to be given two days off duty to attend to some undisclosed matter which was granted.
She, however, overstayed and her commander had planned to charge her with absenteeism.
Family members got concerned when she failed to return home and could also not be found at her work place.
“It was later revealed that she was last seen with the former husband, now deceased, and that they were trying to solve some issues regarding some joint business and a sugarcane plantation in Awendo, Migori County,” the officer’s colleague said.
A few days before he committed suicide, relatives said Odiango appeared disturbed and stopped talking to anyone.
“He was seen walking around with a shawl. That was very unusual. The day he committed suicide, he was seen walking naked within Oyugis town,” a village mate said.
Kitutu Central police boss Tom Achia yesterday declined to comment on the matter, only saying that it was “sensitive”.
A preliminary investigations report and analysis of the officer’s call data by the DCI, however, indicated that she might have travelled to various places including Kisii, Matisi in Kitale town, Rongo and Kilgoris.
“If she is the one who had the phone, it is believed that she travelled to those towns. We are, however, yet to establish that,” another officer said.
The suspicions
“The other challenge we have is that the main person who could have shed light on the matter is now dead.
We are now relying only on phone data and previous communication to establish what actually transpired.”
Detectives also plan to interrogate the man she had moved in with. According to the police, the missing officer had moved in with another man within a week of separating with the husband. It is also within the same week that the husband lured her to Oyugis.
By yesterday evening, the officer had not been traced and could not be reached on phone.
Detective investigating the matter spent the better part of yesterday in Kilgoris town searching for the officer.
Police commanders suspect the officer could have been killed, with the husband believed to be the main suspect.
“Kindly confirm if you have a dead body of a female by the name Eunice Achieng, Okal.
She is a police officer from Nyanchwa police station in Kitutu Central Sub-County,” a police report read.
