Police have exhumed 26 more bodies of people believed to be followers of controversial Pastor Paul Mackenzie of Good News International Church.
This brings to 73 the total number of bodies so far discovered in the shallow graves at Shakahola forest which has been declared a crime scene with Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki expected to visit the area on Tuesday.
Police have also arrested six people including an assistant Pastor from the said church while another eight have been rescued.
The Kenya Red Cross tracing desk has reported 212 (99 male, 113 female) missing persons but two were among those rescued.
A woman who had camped in the vast forest was overwhelmed by emotions when he was reunited with her husband who went missing last year October after joining the religious cult in Kilifi.
Pastor Steve Mwaniki has also pitched tent at the horror site and he is hoping to see his sister, brother-in-law, and their grandson.
Speaking to KBC Digital, Mwaniki revealed he spoke to the in-law yesterday (Sunday) when he picked up his call but could not talk.
He later texted him confirming they were alive. He is hanging on to hope that they will be rescued in time.
“I have reported to the DCI to track him. At first, he told me to wait until June when he will have completed his mission of going to heaven my only hope is that he will be found alive,”
The search resumes Tuesday not just for bodies but for survivors of the cult, which has seen followers starve to death.
Earlier, Inspector General of Police Japheth Koome who visited the scene exonerated police from blame over the arrest and release of Mackenzie.
The police boss who was reacting to claims of inaction by police said Mackenzie had been previously arrested and later released by the courts.
He added that the most recent arrest was in March following the death of two children, but the preacher was freed on bail.
He was arrested again on April 14 following a tip-off that suggested the existence of shallow graves and a day later arraigned at Malindi Law Courts, where the magistrate gave police 14 days to conduct investigations while he remained in police custody.
