There was relief and renewed hope across the country after Joy Wanjiru Gathigia, the 16-year-old Kenya High School student who went missing in early April, was found alive nearly six weeks after her disappearance.
Joy, a Form Three student at the prestigious Kenya High School, disappeared on April 1, 2026, the day schools closed for the Easter holiday, triggering a nationwide search that captured public attention and sparked widespread concern on social media.
According to her family, Joy was picked up from school at around 10am by her brother, Denis Muhoro, who escorted her to the 2NK Sacco matatu stage in Nairobi’s Central Business District. She boarded a matatu heading to Nyeri at approximately 11am but never made it home.
Her mother, Esther Githigia, said the matatu driver later confirmed that they arrived in Nyeri town at about 2:30pm. However, Joy reportedly failed to alight at her usual Skuta stage, located roughly three kilometres from Nyeri town, and instead continued all the way to the town centre, a development that puzzled her family.
As concern intensified, some of Joy’s belongings were later recovered under mysterious circumstances. Her first bag was discovered near River Ragati, while another bag containing her school uniform was found in Karatina near the railway station.
Investigations further revealed chilling CCTV footage showing Joy at approximately 6:37pm in the Saigoni area near River Ragati. She was seen walking towards Karatina town while carrying a bag. About nine minutes later, another camera captured her walking alongside an unidentified man towards the Ragati River bridge.
That became the last confirmed sighting before she vanished.
The disappearance prompted an extensive search operation led by Railway Location Chief Dadson Ithiru, with residents, authorities, and online communities joining efforts to trace the missing teenager.
Joy has now been found alive, bringing an emotional end to weeks of uncertainty and anxiety for her family and the nation at large. However, authorities and the family are yet to publicly disclose the full details surrounding where she had been and what transpired during the six-week period she was missing.
Photos circulating online show the image initially shared by her family during the search alongside a recent photo taken after her recovery, symbolising a case that many Kenyans had followed with hope and prayer.
