By DAMARIS AWUOR: What began as a search for a missing 74-year-old man in Kilifi has turned into a murder investigation, after his body was found dumped in a thicket along Boatyard Road, days after he vanished without a trace.

Police identified the deceased as Charo Kikotero, who reportedly left his home at around 8am on September 18, 2026, and never returned.

His family, growing increasingly concerned, reported him missing and prompted police to begin tracing his whereabouts.

A missing-person alert was circulated on September 20 as relatives and authorities intensified the search.

The case took a grim and unexpected turn when Kikotero’s family reportedly received a message from his own mobile phone, indicating that his body had been dumped along Boatyard Road, a chilling detail that has since become central to the investigation.

Discovery

Acting on the tip, police officers searched the area and discovered the elderly man’s body in a thicket. Investigations were immediately launched to establish what happened to him and identify those responsible.

Crime Scene Investigation officers processed the scene before the body was removed and taken to Kilifi County Hospital Mortuary, where it remains preserved pending a postmortem examination.

Detectives are now working to establish where Kikotero was actually killed and how his body ended up at the location where it was found. Police suspect he may have been murdered elsewhere before being dumped along Boatyard Road.

The motive behind the killing remains unclear, with investigators yet to determine whether it was linked to a personal dispute, robbery, or another cause.

Police are also pursuing leads to identify the last people who interacted with Kikotero before his disappearance, as they work to reconstruct his final movements.

The discovery has sent shockwaves through the community, raising unsettling questions over how a routine morning outing for an elderly man ended in his death, and who was behind it.