BONDO: When Alice Rianga left her hostel on Wednesday, May 6, to resolve missing marks with the academic department at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST), her roommate assumed it was a routine day.

She had no way of knowing it would be the last time she saw her friend alive.

Days later, Alice’s body was found abandoned in a thicket on the outskirts of Bondo Town, only a few kilometers from the university.

Kondele News revisited the scene to piece together the final moments of the Bachelor of Education Science student.

According to the Bondo Sub-County Police Commander, Robert Aboki, the student’s phone went dead the same day she set out for the campus.

“Investigations are ongoing; however, we have established crucial information regarding Ms Rianga’s final moments,” said Aboki.

“We have determined that her phone was switched off at approximately 5:00 PM around the Kopolo area, though the device has not yet been recovered.”

Before her death, it was common knowledge among peers that Rianga was dating 28-year-old Maximillian John Madeni, a Tanzanian national and a gold dealer in Siaya County.

Witnesses had frequently seen him picking Rianga up in the evenings and dropping her off the following morning.

“Our investigations indicate she was with Mr Madeni before her body was discovered,” Aboki told Kondele News.

The roommate’s unease grew when Alice failed to return on the night of May 6, prompting her to file a missing person report at the Bondo Sub-County Police Station.

Ironically, her report came just a day after police had collected the body of an unidentified female adult.

The body had been discovered by a woman gathering firewood.

“The woman reported spotting the body in a thicket. It had begun to decompose, and there were no immediate visible marks of violence,” Aboki explained.

“The body was moved to the Bondo Sub-County Hospital mortuary and booked as ‘unknown.'”

The roommate’s description of Alice matched the body retrieved by the police.

“The parents were informed immediately. They traveled to Bondo and positively identified the body as their daughter,” Aboki added.

The discovery outrage among the JOOUST student body, demonstrations broke out along the streets of Bondo Town, with students demanding justice and calling for the police to release the suspect to them for instant justice.