NAIROBI, Kenya – The body of missing Kenya Forest Service (KFS) Legal Services Manager Esther Wairimu Keige has been found, weeks after she disappeared without a trace, bringing a painful end to an agonising search by family, colleagues and authorities.
According to sources Keige’s body was discovered on July 7 in a secluded coffee plantation in Juja, Kiambu County.
Police say the remains were found at Area Four near the Karimenu area.
The 54-year-old advocate had been missing since June 10, when she was last seen leaving her office along Kiambu Road in the evening.
Juja Sub-County Police Commander Isaac Kombo confirmed the discovery, noting that the body was intact but had already begun decomposing by the time it was located.
Two close relatives were later called to the scene and positively identified the remains, offering the family some measure of closure after weeks of uncertainty.
Investigators have since transferred the body to the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) mortuary, where a post-mortem examination is expected to establish the cause of death.
Colleagues in the legal profession confirmed Keige’s death, with advocate Caroline Oduor describing the discovery as devastating for the legal fraternity.
“After weeks of anxious searching since 9th June, Esther Wairimu Keige, Advocate, has sadly been found dead in Gatundu Forest,” Oduor said in a statement, calling for justice for her death.
Before her body was found, police had received reports from students at a nearby school who claimed they had seen Keige alive days after her disappearance.
According to investigators, the students told police she had approached them asking for food — a sighting that has now become a crucial lead as detectives piece together her final movements.
Police say investigations into Keige’s death are ongoing.