14 September 2022

• Irene Gakwa went missing since March 2022 while living with her boyfriend Nathan Hightman.

• Nathan Hightman was arrested for withdrawing money from Irene's accounts after she went missing.

Francis Kombo, father to Irene Gakwa a Kenyan woman who mysteriously went missing in the US in March has spoken out.

The father of three spoke fondly of Irene who is his only daughter. She is also the last born of her three siblings.

Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV, he said,

"As the last born she had everything she wanted, she was a girl among boys.The mother would sometimes complain that I was doing for her."

Kombo says his sons who live in The US requested the sister join them.

"I kept insisting she studies here but the brothers kept insisting.The brothers somehow convinced me to let her go.

They said they would be able to monitor her better.After she went we would communicate through her brother's phone before she got the phone.She was taking care of the elderly people."

Asked if he knew if his daughter was living with her boyfriend Nathan Hightman, he said he did not.

"I did not know After she went missing, my sister-in-law called me outside and she told me she had been told about the guy by my daughter."

He says he thought Wairimu had not gotten a new phone after hers fell in the water.

"I thought the phone still had issues after it fell in the water.I called Kennedy (son) and she told me she was not responding. The second born also tried reaching her to no avail.They got there and asked the boyfriend and he couldn't talk."

When the family failed to get answers they reported the matter to the police.

"They reported to the police but my daughter's boyfriend told them to talk to his lawyers. My sons asked to be given my daughters stuff, the boyfriend told them he would send them to his lawyer but he never did.

The workplace said she sent a message saying she would not come to work.

They said it was unlike her because even when she couldn't come to work she never sent a text she called. You cannot join the dots."

Kombo says that he wishes someone would come out and share what happened to their daughter so that the family can get closure.

"What I fear most is that there is someone who knows what happened to her and that person continues to live. If I know what happened to her I would get closure.

I cannot even sleep for long because I assume she will call. Sometimes her friends who do not know about her disappearance ask me of her whereabouts.

I just ignore them and walk away. We rarely talk about her."