Eric Kibe Karanja is autistic and he cannot speak or hear. On September 24, 2016, he was playing outside the family home and off he went.
The second born of three siblings has been missing ever since.
Frantic searches in children’s homes, asking family networks and neighbours as well as reporting to police have yielded nothing.
"Four years is quite long not knowing where your sick child is. It is really frustrating and the night is sleepless. I'd rather have him here sick than have him disappear without a trace," Eric's mother Lucy Wanjiku said.
Wanjiku said her son, who was 10 years old at the time, was playing outside their house at Weteithie, Thika, that Monday morning and suddenly went missing.
A police report was made at Juja police station days later under OB number 27/27/09/2016.
The search has been gruelling, anguished and frustrating. Family projects have stalled; the sole focus is on finding Eric.
Though she visits police stations regularly whenever a report of a lost-and-found child is made, she returns home without him.
That was not the first time Eric went away. Luckily that time he was found and brought back home.
His mother believes part of the problem is her son’s disability. He cannot speak, cry for help and cannot hear anything.
The last time he went missing, the family traced Eric to a children's home in Githunguri in Kiambu.
The family believes that this time as well, Eric is in some children's home somewhere.
"I don't think someone kidnapped him. I think he is just in some children's home and in the fullness of time, we will just find him," she said.
But that is hope against hope. Wanjiku said they have tried everything to find him, including making announcements on mainstream media and social media platforms.
"I have searched for him in all neighbouring children's homes in vain," his mother said.
(Edited by V. Graham)
