This archive report was first published on 17 November 2019.
On October 25, 2019, Joyce Syombua embarked on a journey to Nanyuki with her two children, Shanice (10) and Prince Michael (5), allegedly at the behest of her estranged lover, Major Peter Mugure.
According to Elizabeth Maua Malombe, Joyce's mother, the family had just won a significant child maintenance case against Mugure in a Nairobi court just a week prior to the disappearance.
“Syombua had sued Mugure for child upkeep after he said he couldn’t support the children because he was not sure that the kids were sired by him. One week to October 25, the judge ruled that Mugure should provide for the children after DNA test results on the kids revealed that he was their biological father,” stated Maua.
It is alleged that Mugure reached out to Joyce, requesting to see the children and even sent them money for fare, after the court ruling. The court had also ordered Mugure to be granted regular access to the children.
Despite her mother's warnings, Joyce left Nairobi for Nanyuki on October 25, 2019, never to return again. Her body was recovered three weeks later, along with those of her two children.
On November 16, 2019, a day after Peter Mugure's arrest, police in Laikipia recovered three bodies suspected to be those of Joyce Syombua and her two children, who went missing on October 26.
Laikipia County Criminal Investigation lead officer, Peter Mwau Muinde, confirmed the incident, adding that DNA tests were yet to be conducted on the three to ascertain their identities.
