Missing Form Four student found alive after more than a month

Silvia Nyakio, a student at Kerugoya Girls High School, disappeared on August 15, 2026, shortly before she was due to return to school to prepare for her final examinations.

She was found on Tuesday night near Kiamathatwa village in Mwea after a woman who had encountered her recognised her from a photograph being circulated by the family.

Nyakio's mother, Millicent Mumbi, said she had spent much of the day searching for her daughter along the Kagio-Kutus road when she stopped at a food stall in the Spenser area and showed the women there her daughter's photograph.

One of the women told her that a girl matching Nyakio's description had been moving around the area asking for food and appearing unable to find her way home.

"She came to my homestead yesterday asking for food. I have left her in my house eating. I have her," the woman told Mumbi.

Mumbi said she rushed to the woman's home and found her daughter alive.

She said Nyakio broke down in tears when she saw her and appeared confused about what had happened during the period she was missing.

"Mum, where have you been? Why have you not been looking for me? I have been asking for directions to our homestead in vain, eating anything I could find while looking for our home," Nyakio told her mother, according to Mumbi.

The family said Nyakio appeared weak and had lost significant weight during the time she was missing.

Her mother said the first thing her daughter repeatedly asked for after they were reunited was to return to school.

"Mum, I want to go to school," Nyakio kept telling her mother.

She was taken to hospital for medical assessment and treatment, while police asked Mumbi to record a statement following her daughter's recovery.

The circumstances surrounding Nyakio's disappearance remain unclear.

Before she was found, her family in Njegas village, Kirinyaga Central, had spent weeks searching for her.

Mumbi said the disappearance was reported to police three days after Nyakio went missing, after the family failed to trace her.

She said relatives had repeatedly visited the police station and continued searching for her, but received no information on her whereabouts.

Mumbi had previously described her daughter as quiet and disciplined and said there had been no indication that she intended to leave home.

"She has been a very good girl and does not talk too much. I cannot believe she is nowhere to be seen," she said.

The family said Nyakio had been attending holiday tuition ahead of her return to Kerugoya Girls, where she was expected to sit her final examinations.

Her cousin, Kevin Gatu, said the family had been in regular contact with her before she disappeared and could not understand what had happened.

Nyakio's grandmother, who shares the girl's name, said her granddaughter had hoped to become a teacher.

"She told me she would like to be a teacher. Whatever happened, my granddaughter went missing. Could she be sick or what went wrong? Please come back home," she had said during the search.

The family is now awaiting further medical assessment as police investigate the circumstances surrounding Nyakio's disappearance and her movements during the more than one month she was missing.