DCI launches manhunt for suspect linked to disappearance of a 4-year-old in Nakuru after ransom demand and escape during police operation.

📻 Breaking It Down

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 14 — Detectives have launched an intensive manhunt for a suspect linked to the disappearance of a four-year-old child in Nakuru County, after he allegedly demanded a ransom from the distraught family and later fled during a police operation.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has appealed to members of the public to provide any information that could lead to the suspect’s arrest. He is wanted in connection with the child’s disappearance reported at Mwariki Police Station on June 11.

The report triggered an immediate search involving family members and law enforcement officers.

📌 What You Need to Know

According to the DCI, the family’s anguish deepened when the suspect allegedly attempted to negotiate a ransom as efforts to trace the child intensified.

Detectives from the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit (AHTCPU), working jointly with officers from the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB) at DCI Headquarters and personnel from Mwariki Police Station, acted on intelligence leads that pointed to the suspect’s location in the Quarry area of Rongai.

However, the suspect escaped arrest after reportedly spotting detectives closing in on him and fleeing into nearby informal settlements.

“Acting swiftly on intelligence leads, detectives from the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit, working jointly with the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau at DCI Headquarters and officers from Mwariki Police Station, trailed the suspect to a plot in Quarry area of Rongai,” the DCI said.

“Upon noticing the detectives closing in, the suspect fled into nearby slums and has since remained at large.”

Investigators who searched the room where the suspect is believed to have spent the night recovered a mobile phone, personal belongings, and a mother-and-child clinic booklet containing details of another minor from Nakuru County.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya