A police officer who went missing on March 31 has not been traced to date according to his superiors who have been looking for him.
James Maina Nganga, 35, was armed with a loaded gun after completing his official duties at the Thiba dam site on the material day.
Information availed to the media Saturday afternoon said the police constable called his wife at Thika town on March 30 and allegedly informed her that the world would come to an end on April 1.
The sources said that was the last communication between him and the wife after which his phone went off to date.
According to a senior officer leading the search team who did not wish to be named, Nganga reported for duty as usual at 6m on March 31and signed out at 6 pm.
“There was a police vehicle which was on standby to pick him and his colleagues and drop them at their base at the Kianyaga police station but he did not turn up at the pick point,” the officer said.
He added that his family was notified immediately and even joined the search party but to no avail.
On Saturday morning, a body was discovered at Mjini section of Thiba River but the missing officer’s kin said it wasn’t his.
Another family however identified it as that of their kin who had gone missing for a while and removed it with the help of the police to local private morgue in Kutus town as they prepared to bury him.
Nganga, who hailed from Kipipiri in Nyandarua County, had no known mental history which has left his kin dumb folded as to what might have transpired.
The search has been extended to the nearby Kiringa and Mukengeria rivers and to the outlying areas of the expansive Mwea Irrigation scheme.
The officer is suspected to have committed suicide either by drowning himself in the river or hanging on a tree and the two theories are seriously being pursued.
“If he was hijacked, those behind it should have used the loaded gun to commit a crime but so far, no spent bullet or cartridge from Nganga’s gun has ever been traced,” said the lead search team officer.
By Irungu Mwangi
