This archive report was first published on 8 July 2020.
On June 11, parents of Alvina Mutheu (3) and Henry Jacktone (4) reported their children missing after they failed to return home from playing near the Kenya Meat Commission in Athi River.
Three weeks later, the children's bodies were discovered in the back seat of a car at Athi River Police Station, prompting an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
However, the autopsy conducted by Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor on July 8 returned inconclusive results, with the pathologist citing massive tissue loss and maggot infestation as the reason for the inability to establish the cause of death.
"We could not establish the cause of the deaths of the children because their bodies had decomposed and had experienced a lot of deterioration," Dr. Johansen said.
Despite the lack of signs of injuries on the two bodies, the pathologist has forwarded samples to the government chemist for further tests, which will be analyzed by a forensic entomologist to determine when the children died.
"There were no fractures on their bones and we cannot attribute their deaths to any specific cause. We now rely on the police and further results from the government lab to figure the details of the deaths," Dr. Johansen added.
Executive Director of Haki Yetu activist group Hussein Khalid has called for the police and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to fast-track investigations into the deaths.
Parents of the children, including Stephen Mulinge, the father of Henry Jacktone, are still waiting for the results from the government chemist and are demanding justice.
