This archive report was first published on 17 June 2020.
On June 11, 2020, Mary Njeri, a 26-year-old woman who had been at the center of a heartwarming reunion with her family in 2017, passed away at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
Her story, which was first shared by the Sunday Nation in 2017, captured the hearts of many after she was reunited with her family after a 15-year search.
According to reports, Mary was born Sabrina Adam and had been living with her Nairobi relatives in 2002 when she wandered away from a mosque in Kibera where she had gone for madrassa sessions.
She was later found by Nelly Wanjiku, a mother of 10, who took her in and raised her as her own, naming her Mary Njeri.
However, it would take 15 years for Mary's family to find her, thanks to a story published by the Sunday Nation on March 26, 2017.
On April 2, 2017, Nation Media Group journalists led Mary's Kibera family to Dagoretti, where the emotional reunion took place.
"I said to myself, 'This child is like my own. At my home, she may get a Good Samaritan to help her.' But out there, anything could have happened to her," Nelly Wanjiku said in an interview.
After the reunion, Mary was left in a dilemma, having to choose between her adoptive family and her biological family, who were Muslim.
She eventually chose to stay in her marriage with Martin Njenga, whom she had married in 2013, despite reports of physical abuse and poverty.
