This archive report was first published on 21 November 2019.
On October 25, 2019, Joyce Syombua, a 31-year-old mother, left Nairobi with her two children, Shanice Maua and Prince Michael, to visit their father, Army Major Peter Mugure, at his Nanyuki Barracks residence.
According to post mortem results, the family's disappearance was shrouded in mystery until their bodies were found buried at Makaburini, Thingithu area, in Laikipia county, 21 days later.
Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor revealed that the adult female had injuries on the head, blunt trauma, and bleeding in the brain, while the kids had been strangled using a rope.
Text messages and call records showed that Syombua communicated regularly with her female friend, telling her that Mugure had left with the kids but never returned with them.
When asked where the kids were, Mugure told her that he had left them at his friend's place so that they (he and Syombua) could have privacy and iron out their differences.
It was later revealed that Mugure had denied the kids were his until a DNA test was conducted, confirming that he was their biological father. He was ordered by a Nairobi court to pay for child support.
On the day Syombua went to visit him, he had requested to see the kids.
