A Cooperative University student’s mother is still searching for answers after her 22-year-old daughter, Ivy Anyango, reportedly vanished in June 2026 and was later allegedly found dead inside a septic tank at a student hostel in Athi River.
Ivy was last seen at her family’s home in Joska on June 9, 2026. She was a fourth-year student pursuing a degree in disaster management and looked forward to graduating in December.
That evening, she sent her mother a brief text message saying she had gone back to where she was staying.
Her mother, busy with household chores, read the message but did not reply.
“That was the last time I heard from her. We have been looking for her through friends and relatives,” her mother said.
Ivy’s family receives call from Athi River Police Station In the days that followed, calls to Ivy’s phone went unanswered. Her mother tried reaching her through different phone lines, hoping the problem was a connectivity issue. Nothing worked. The family clung to hope as weeks stretched into months.
Then, on September 30, 2026, at 7:11 p.m., a DCI officer from Athi River Police Station called, asking the family to visit the following day.
The news that awaited them was devastating: a body had been discovered on September 5, floating inside a septic tank at Orange County Hostel, located near Daystar University.
DCI investigate Ivy’s death
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations found a trail of suspected blood leading from room A031 to the tank.
The room, which was unoccupied, had a broken rear window and bloodstains on the walls. Suspected bloodstains were also reportedly found on a water tap, a sink and doors.
Samples from the scene were sent to the Government Chemist on September 14 for DNA comparison with samples from Ivy, the room’s former occupants and the hostel caretaker.
Ivy’s tooth extracted for analysis
Fingerprints could not be taken, so a tooth was extracted for analysis. Ivy’s mother said she identified her daughter through the wristbands on her hand and her distinctive dreadlocks, which had beads in them.
A photograph taken casually before Ivy’s disappearance proved critical.
Photo of Ivy and her siblings
“That random photo became the basis of my identification because she had the same hairstyle as the one I saw when I was looking at the body,” her mother said.
She added that another image showing Ivy with her siblings, her hand raised, allowed investigators to zoom in and clearly confirm the wristband was still on her wrist, intact.
DNA samples collected on October 1, 2026 had not returned results at the time of reporting. The Director of Liaison and Corporate Communications, John Moretta, confirmed that bloodstains and the broken window remained key investigative leads, but said the full circumstances of the death were still subject to forensic confirmation.
