• Obuong's four-wheel drive was declared a write-off and he was in the process of buying another one. The car accident was non-fatal.
• Police were investigating Oduor after a motorcycle he sold to a minor was involved in a fatal accident. The passenger died.
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Two of the four friends missing together for 10 days were under police investigation for accidents involving a vehicle and motorcycle.
Police told the Star Elijah Obuong, 35, was involved in a car accident on Jogoo Road, Nairobi, three days before he went missing.
Obuong, Benjamin Amache Imbai, Brian Oduor, 36, and Jack Ochieng, 37, have been missing since April 19.
Their friends and relatives said their phones went off at around 3pm on April 19.
They had met at a club in Kitengela, Kajiado county, where they had lunch before leaving.
It is believed they were picked up by professionals of some kind because there was no commotion at the scene. Their car was found 500 metres from the parking lot of the restaurant.
Family members said the four were good friends and met frequently.
The accident did not involve an injury, but police were investigating it. His mother Caroline said Obuong had bought the four-wheel drive vehicle from funds sent by his grandmother.
"The car was declared a write-off and he was in the process of buying another one," she said.
Police said they were also investigating Oduor after a motorcycle he sold to a minor was involved in a fatal accident.
The mother of the minor was angry at Oduor for selling her son the motorcycle involved in an accident killing a passenger.
Police said Oduor had three motorcycles and sold one of them to a minor, which came to the limelight when it was involved in an accident.
Officials said the minor's parents were not aware of the sale or transfer and were not happy.
They told police they didn’t know if Oduor had sold or given the motorcycle to the minor in Embakasi where he lived.
“Before he went missing, he claimed he sold the motorcycle and the minor insisted he bought it. But the two could not prove the transaction and how much was involved," a police officer said.
“When the accident that led to the death of the pillion rider occurred, it was then established the motorcycle belonged to Oduor."
Oduor was apparently arrested and booked at a police station but was released two weeks before his disappearance.
Obuong's parents live in a palatial home in Kitengela, while the missing man lived in Kayole where his network of friends was.
The mother told police the family paid his monthly rent. The families and friends of the four men said there's no trace of their whereabouts.
Caroline denied her son operated a car hire business, saying he was jobless. She said the family-sponsored his high-end lifestyle from money sent by relatives living abroad.
"My son used to live a high-end lifestyle and drive flashy cars but he was jobless. We as a family fund his lifestyle and cater for his bills. His grandmother, who is abroad, would send him enough money," she said.
Isinya subcounty police commander Anderson Njagi said a probe into the four men’s disappearances has been taken over by the DCI.
“We don’t have so much to reveal about the men yet,” he told the Star.
(Edited by V. Graham)