'Strange vehicles were following me': Family buries Meru teacher found hanging in forest

Fredrick Gitiye, a high school teacher who went missing in December 2025 before his remains were discovered in Nyambene Forest, Meru County, was buried on Monday, August 24, with his family still searching for answers over his mysterious death.

Four months after he disappeared, a Kenya Forest Service ranger stumbled on a human skeleton dangling from a tree deep in the forested Nyambene ranges. A rope was tied around the neck, raising questions about whether the 32-year-old teacher had been killed and his body dumped in the forest.

The Biology and Chemistry teacher at Kindani Secondary School went missing on December 23, 2025, after he was last seen in Maua town. His disappearance plunged his family into months of anguish and an exhaustive search.

On April 30, a KFS ranger discovered the remains in the forest. The lower limbs of the body were missing, while some of the clothes Gitiye was wearing when he disappeared were never recovered.

His widow, Fridah Njoki, said the family became convinced that the remains could be those of her husband after identifying a navy-blue jacket he had been wearing on the day he disappeared.

“However, the blue shoes and other clothes he was wearing were never found. It is shocking that the lower limbs are also still missing,” Ms Njoki said.

The identity of the remains was confirmed through DNA analysis about a month later. The family delayed the burial in the hope that the missing parts of his body would be recovered, but that did not happen.

As Gitiye was laid to rest at Mutiokiama village in Igembe South, relatives called on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to fast-track investigations and establish what happened to him.

The family believes Gitiye was abducted, taken into the forest and murdered, although investigators are yet to establish how he died or identify those responsible.

“His sudden disappearance left us in anguish and with many questions. When we started asking questions about his disappearance, I noticed that I was being monitored by strange vehicles,” said Mr Nathan Muliuki, a relative.

The mystery has also left the teaching fraternity demanding answers, with colleagues and former students describing Gitiye as a dedicated teacher, mentor and a helpful colleague who delivered his lessons well.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Meru County chairman Justus Maore said investigators should examine Gitiye’s phone records for clues on his final movements.

“We call on investigators to widen their net and use all means possible to find answers to this mysterious death,” he said.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Meru branch executive secretary Muthomi Njira said the union would continue pressing investigative agencies to resolve the case.

Earlier, Igembe South Directorate of Criminal Investigations Officer Sammy Nthiwa said investigators were seeking phone-location and call-data records from mobile service providers to establish Gitiye’s movements and the people he communicated with on the day he disappeared.

According to his mother, Ms Tabitha Kabilu, the family reported Gitiye’s disappearance in December but received little information on the progress of the investigations.

The search continued for nearly five months until early May, when the family was contacted by people who knew they were looking for a missing relative.

“Early May we received a call from people who knew that we had been looking for a missing relative,” said Ms Ruth Muthenya, a relative.

Ms Muthenya said the family positively identified the remains from a dental diastema and the sweater found with the skeleton.

The discovery brought an end to months of uncertainty over Gitiye’s whereabouts but opened another chapter of anguish for his family, determining how he ended up in the forest and who was responsible for his death.

Mr Mithika Mwenda, a local politician, said the family would receive support from a human rights lawyer to pursue the investigations to their conclusion.

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