Court gives DCI 30 days to probe disappearance of Nakuru fisherman
Crime and Justice
By
Daniel Chege
| Apr 13, 2026
A court in Nakuru has given the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) 30 days to investigate the disappearance of Nakuru fisherman Brian Stingo.
Chief Magistrate Tito Gesora issued the orders on Monday, four years after Stingo went missing in July 2022.
Gesora suspended a public inquest file that was opened to assist the family and the public to understand how he disappeared, whether he was dead and who killed him.
He stood down Stingo’s mother Mary Asami, who had begun to testify on how her son disappeared from their home in Manyani, Nakuru East Sub County.
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Gesora said that a public inquest could only proceed if Stingo’s body had been found, a post-mortem conducted and a report filed.
“The public inquest case is not properly filed before this court and the witness cannot continue to testify, she is thus stood down,” he said.
The Chief Magistrate said that an inquest can only proceed after seven years, when Stingo will publicly be declared as deceased.
“The DCI is directed to do further investigations and report to this court within a month,” he ruled.
Before she was stood down, Asami narrated the events leading to the disappearance of her son on July 24, 2022.
She testified that she was with her son at home, before his friend Tyson Ng’ang’a came and picked him to go fishing in Lake Nakuru.
Asami said that her son did not return the following day as expected and they searched for him for three days before she filed a missing person’s report at Bondeni Police Station under OB 19/27/7/2022.
“We went to see Ng’ang’a and after he was confronted, he admitted that they were chased by the park rangers and he escaped but was told that Stingo had drowned,” she testified.
She narrated that Ng’ang’a was arrested after he surrendered Stingo’s clothes and his mobile phone to his mother but was later released after investigations.
She testified that they sought help from rangers inside the park to help search for her son but they allegedly demanded fuel money.
“I went to the Red Cross who assisted me and we were given officers. We searched for him for over three months but we did not find him. Those helping us gave up and we lost hope,” she testified.
Asami, who was blessed with 14 children, described Stingo as their last hope. Having lost six other children, who she was able to bury, Asami said her son’s disappearance has been eating her to date.
Although she presumed he was dead, she said she would only get closure once she buried him.
Stingo would have turned 25 this year. His family had lost hope after his trail went cold and authorities stopped looking for him.
Asami had visited the police station and DCI offices seeking help to find her son.
“I lost hope of finding my son and I became frustrated because no one was helping me. I heard that he had drowned at Lake Nakuru,” she said.
However, their hopes were renewed last year, in a rather unfortunate manner, when another fisherman, Brian Odhiambo disappeared inside the park, sparking outcry and protests.
When the Senate Committee Senate Committee on National Security started investigations, Nakuru Human Rights Network led by David Kuria brought to the limelight the fact that Stingo’s case had been abandoned.
He called for further investigations and in his letter to the DCI, Kuria questioned why the police had released Nganga, who was last seen with him before he disappeared.
The matter will be mentioned on May 13, when the court will give further directions.