Nakuru: Husband Recalls Final Moments With Wife Who Disappeared While Heading to the Bank

• A young mother identified as Hannah Waithera vanished recently after leaving work to deposit KSh 250,000 at the bank
• Her husband recounted their final call and the desperate search that followed, as police focused more on the missing money than her life
• With a toddler left behind and growing public concern, the family pleaded for help in finding the missing 23-year-old

Nakuru - It has been five agonising days since 23-year-old Hannah Waithera vanished from Mawanga estate without a trace.

Since her disappearance, the once cheerful laughter of a young family has been replaced by grief, confusion, and a fear of the unknown.

Normal day turned into a nightmare

In an interview with MtaaWangu, Waithera's husband, Zacharia Karanja, recalled their last conversation.

Karanja disclosed that his wife called him at 1 pm and asked for KSh 1,500 to get her hair done. As it would turn out, that was the last time he heard from her.

According to him, Wednesday, May 21, began like any other day as the cheerful and devoted mother left home for work at the M-Pesa shop she managed along Kenyatta Avenue.

Karanja, a cab driver and part-time car hire operator, had left home the previous night for a late-night booking. He kept in touch with his wife throughout the morning.

“She sounded normal. Happy even. Nothing seemed off,” he recounts.

Desperate search for missing Waithera

But by mid-afternoon, the normalcy shattered. Karanja was en route to Subukia with a client when he received a call from his mother-in-law. She was worried.

Her repeated attempts to reach Waithera had gone unanswered. Karanja’s calls met the same silence.

“I started to panic,” he says. “I immediately turned back and rushed to town. When I got to her workplace, they told me she had left to deposit some money—KSh 250,000—to the bank. No one had seen her since.”

What followed was a frantic search. Karanja combed through salons, banks, streets, and alleys—anywhere Waithera might have gone.

Waithera's boss filed complaint

He called her friends, colleagues, and even casual acquaintances. Nothing.

With hope turning to fear, Karanja rushed to the police to report her disappearance, only to be told he had to wait 24 hours before filing a missing person report.

“It felt like a cruel joke,” he says bitterly. “How can you put a clock on someone’s life?”

Unknown to him at the time, Waithera’s employer had also filed a report—this one about the missing cash she had left with.

Suspicion and harassment from DCI

As the family grappled with the shock of Waithera’s disappearance, another blow came—this time from the authorities meant to help them.

Karanja alleges that officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) raided his home, accusing him and his family of colluding with Hannah to steal the money.

They harassed the family members as his three-year-old daughter watched, then they allegedly confiscated KSh 49,350, which Karanja says was from his car hire business.

“I had 11 cars hired out that day. That money was from my clients,” he explains. Also taken were groceries and household items he had just bought.

Karanja desires for his wife's return

Karanja maintains that the DCI detectives view them as criminals, yet all they want is to find Waithera.

Now, five days later, the pain remains as fresh as ever. Their three-year-old daughter, too young to fully understand, asks when “Mama” is coming home.

“The search feels like it has stalled,” he says, stares at his phone in the hope it will ring with good news. “They’re chasing the money, but I’m chasing my wife.”

The family is appealing to the public for any information on Waithera’s whereabouts. They’re also asking authorities to prioritise her life over the money she was carrying.

Form 4 student disappears after altercation with teacher

Meanwhile, Austine Chakua Nchogu was last seen at school on Wednesday, May 14, after a disagreement with his Chemistry teacher.

According to Austine's family, the management at Mwingori High School informed them he had disappeared on Tuesday, May 20, six days later.

It also emerged that the school had not made a report to the police about the Form 4 student's disappearance.

Source: TUKO.co.ke