Six people have been summoned to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for questioning over the deaths of children in Athi River, Machakos county.
Detectives from DCI's Homicide department on Friday issued the summonses after they completed processing the Athi River police station. It had been secured as a crime scene after the bodies were discovered inside a car at the station on June 30.
The bodies of Alvina Mutheu, three years and nine month, and Henry Jacktone, four, were found in a Toyota Belta, plate number KCT 510X after disappearing outside their KMC Estate on June 11.
Detectives dusted the scene for four days.
“We have completed processing the scene and collected all forensic materials needed to successfully investigate the deaths,” a detective told the Star on Sunday.
He said the materials had been taken for forensic anlysis as questioning of persons of interest begins.
Those to be questioned include police officers and the owner of the car in which the bodies were found. He discovered the bodies while collecting it from the impound lot where it has been since April 4 when it was towed after an accident.
Detectives took statements from the children’s parents on Friday.
They have ruled out the possibility of the children being killed at the police station.
“There is a high possibility that they were killed elsewhere and their bodies dumped at the scene,” a detective told the Star.
The investigators want to know how the bodies were dumped into the stationary car and how the locked car was accessed inside a police station compound. They want to know who had the car keys between the time it was impounded and when the bodies were found.
DCI will question a A traffic police officer who moved the car from where it was initially parked at the station after it was impounded.
Athi River subcounty police commander Catherine Ringera said the investigations had been taken over by the DCI headquarters along Kiambu Road.
The Star established there were no CCTV cameras at the station.
The lack of CCTV footage had complicated the investigation.
The Star has learnt there has been a lot of disquiet at the station's traffic department as most officers are new.
“Why were the children’s bodies dumped inside the vehicle under the traffic police boss’s custody despite having other vehicles in the custody of police bosses in various departments?" a source posted.
The detectives said postmortems will be performed on Monday, pending confirmation by government pathologist Johansen Oduor.
Residents deplored the killings and urged the DCI to bring the culprits to book to give the parents and dead children justice. They deplored the disappearance of children in Athi River and environs.
Edited by R.Wamochie
