The slain woman/HNADOUTFamily and Friends of 22-year-old Cooperative University student Ivy Anyango are seeking answers following the discovery of a decomposing body in a water reservoir behind hostels in Athi River, which they believe to be hers.
Police said the body was discovered on September 5, 2026.
Ivy had reportedly been missing since June, around the time she lost her mobile phone. Her family have since appealed to anyone who interacted with her during the intervening months to come forward.
Her mother, Jackline Matunga, said Ivy’s last message indicated she had returned to Rongai, but subsequent attempts to reach her were unsuccessful.
The family is awaiting DNA results to confirm the identity of the remains, although police believe the recovered body could be Ivy’s.
Matunga said she identified her daughter through a wristband and hairstyle.
“The wristband was intact, and that is how I identified her,” she said.
Ivy reportedly disappeared on June 9, 2026, leaving her family searching for answers about her whereabouts until the discovery of the body nearly three months later.
Friends described her as a kind university student who shared accommodation with a roommate in Rongai and regularly travelled to Athi River, where she had friends studying.
They said they maintained regular communication with Ivy before losing contact around June, following the reported loss of her phone.
The first public reports of the discovery emerged on September 6, a day after a caretaker at hostels in Athi River reported finding the remains of an unidentified woman inside a man-made water reservoir.
Police responding to the scene could not immediately establish the woman's identity, as the body was already decomposing and appeared to have been in the reservoir for some time.
Preliminary investigations also raised questions about one of the hostel rooms, with police reports at the time indicating that investigators had found suspected bloodstains on its walls and broken panes on a rear window.
Investigators were pursuing the possibility that the body may have been moved through the rear window before being placed in the reservoir. However, the circumstances surrounding the death remain under investigation, and police have not publicly identified any suspect.
The room was initially reported to have been associated with a former occupant identified only as Natasha, who was said to have vacated the premises approximately a month before the discovery.
Police processed the hostel and surrounding area before retrieving the remains and transferring them to Machakos Level Five Hospital mortuary for identification and postmortem examination.
Following the family's identification of the remains, Ivy's friends are now appealing for information that could help detectives piece together her movements before the reported disappearance.
They are particularly seeking information from anyone who saw or communicated with her from June onwards, encountered her around Athi River or may have details relevant to the ongoing investigations.
The matter has been reported to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, with detectives expected to establish Ivy's movements, how she may have reached the hostel and the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the body.
For her family and friends, the discovery has brought some answers but left a more painful question unresolved: what happened between the time they lost contact with Ivy and the discovery of the remains in Athi River?
Police have pledged to pursue investigations into the matter.
