Syengo Nyamai of Mavindini Day Mixed Secondary School in Kitui county went missing just a day after he won a sports bet.
The 17-year-old boy won Ksh200,000 after he gambled in the 2023 Carabao Cup final match pitting Manchester United against Newcastle United.
Nyamai was last seen alive on the morning of February 27, 2023, – just a day after winning the Ksh200,000 sports bet.
The teen, who was a day scholar, left for school as usual but failed to return home in the evening.
The family got alarmed when Nyamai failed to return home in the evening on the second day. They checked on him at school and they were told he had not been there.
“We reported to the area chief that the boy was missing because it wasn’t his nature to disappear without informing the parents,” Nyamai’s brother was quoted by the Nation.
Nyamai’s lifeless body was found in a thicket a few kilometres from his rural home in Maliku area on March 4, 2023 – six days after he went missing.
The body had injuries on the head, the right hand was broken and the eyes were gouged out.
Motorcycle tire tracks were discovered where the body was lying, suggesting the deceased could have been killed elsewhere and his body ferried to the place on the motorbike.
Police arrested two suspected linked to Nyamai’s murder.
The two suspects, who are friends of the deceased, watched the Carabao Cup final at the local shopping centre with Nyamai and stayed together late into the night.
Katulani DCI boss Collins Karanja confirmed that police had obtained custodial orders from the court to detain for questioning the two suspects.
“There’s very little we can divulge at the moment because the investigations are at the preliminary stage, but so far, we are holding two suspects and we are keen to establish the motive of the murder,” the detective said.
Police are keen to establish the last people who were in communication with the student and whether the winnings from the bet had been withdrawn from the mobile line.
