Even as the search for Irene Gakwa continues in Wyoming, her Kenyan compatriots in the U.S have been criticized for not actively participating in the search mission.
Michael Kirkland, a resident of Wyoming, feels Kenyans in the U.S should employ the same energy they use on social media to assist in finding Irene, who has been missing for seven months.
“I just see them making a lot of noise on social media rather than use the same energy to figure out the whereabouts of their compatriot. This is wrong on so many fronts,” Kirkland told KSN News on Sunday.
She added: “It is a shame that it is American women–and white American women for that matter–who have taken the lead. Where are the Kenyans for goodness sake?”
Irene, 32, has not been heard from since February 24th when she had a WhatsApp video call with her parents who live in Nairobi, Kenya.
She emigrated to the United States in May 2019, hoping to launch a career in nursing and first settled in Idaho, where she lived with her brothers Chris Munga and Kennedy Wainaina while attending classes.
This is when she met a man on Craigslist named Nathan Hightman and the two started dating before they decided to relocate to Wyoming in the summer of 2021. The two were engaged and lived together in a three-bedroom house in Gillette.
Wainaina and his brother Munga reported her missing to the Gillette Police Department on March 20th.
It is alleged that Irene and Hightman, 38, had broken up several times since they began dating in 2020. Her brothers thought the two were no longer dating and were not aware they had reunited and moved in together.
Hightman, who is considered a person of interest in her disappearance, told police in March that Irene came home one night and packed her clothes in two bags and then left in a dark-colored SUV.
Police later arrested Hightman and charged him with draining Irene’s bank accounts, deleting her email account and using her credit card at Walmart to buy a shovel, a pair of boots and a pair of pants. He was released on a $10,000 bond and his pretrial conference is scheduled for November.
He told police that he withdrew money from her accounts in an attempt to force her to contact him when she needed cash.
Stacy Koester, a resident of Gillette, has been organizing searches with a group of local women since April even though she did not know Irene in person. She organized a search with horses that specialize in human decomposition, used cadaver dogs, and covered hundreds of miles.
“There’s a lot of vast open country and one main road may have 50 to 60 side roads, twists and turns. So, it’s covering the areas and making sure that you don’t go over those same places repeatedly,” Koester told NewsNation last week.
Police believe Irene was taken to a rural area, mine site, or oil and gas location in a passenger vehicle or crossover SUV between February 24th and March 20th.
Detectives asked the public for information concerning a gray or silver Subaru Crosstrek with Idaho license plates that may have been trespassing or appearing out of place in rural Converse County between those dates. They also sought information about a possible 55-gallon metal drum that may have been burned or abandoned in the county.
Anyone with information on the case is urged to call the Gillette Police Department at 307-682-5155.
Kirkland’s attack on Kenyans…
Kirkland’s attack on Kenyans here is unmerited.The case is in the hands of the police.What more could they do?What exactly does “employ the same energy” mean?Are we supposed to hire PIs? Unfortunately, Michael seems to think that” more energy ” leads to finding the Kenyan…Iwish…
USA with slightly over3,670,000 million sq.miles is Kind of hard to trace anybody especially if you are not a sleuth.
So Michael Kirkland, please tell Kenyans what they are not doing.Moreover, this is a human issue. Granted your own usually shows more concern, every human being who can help should.
It is also erroneous to assume that all Kenyans in USA, have homogeneous mind set.If you have been on this forum long enough, you know what I mean.That said, I would advise Michael Kirkland to start by contacting the Kenyan Embassy to find out what they are doing before you castigate private individuals. What say you diaspora?
The Kenyan government should…
The Kenyan government should be blamed for not doing enough to trace as they have enough resources yet they count the remittances and not Kenyans in the USA who are making a living in ubarn areas, Gillette is small with almost nill immigrants who would join for the search. Locals helps as they have the geographical know how and horses. So the energy they are using is perfect to keep the search on
Kirkland was not attacking…
Kirkland was not attacking. He was stating what he had observed. So please leave him alone!
Since you seem to know what…
Since you seem to know what Kirkland observed, could you tell us what Kenyans have fallen short in doing.Or why they seem to have applied”less energy”?
1st some facts about Wyoming…
1st some facts about Wyoming. Wyoming is a very Trumpy state about 43% the size of Kenya and a population a little over 1% of Kenya’s. A little over 1% of that population is black. ReTrumplicans (Wyoming’s primary residents) are not known for their tolerance of immigrants. These people are gun owners (229 per 1000 people). Did I mention that 13% of Wyoming’s population has admitted to meth use in their at some time or other. Meth users tend to be quite paranoid. Now imagine a bunch of black people, clearly immigrants, with “odd” accents traipsing around asking questions about one of Wyoming’s own. What could possibly go wrong? ?. I think this lady is dead and buried in a remote location never to be found.
Oh well! Is it not their son…
Oh well! Is it not their son who done it
She was definitely robbed…
She was definitely robbed raped and murdered by the so called “boyfriend”, burned in a drum according to police reports! It’s not going to be easy to find her remains, if any, unless somehow the murderer starts singing like a bird which is very unlikely! This is Montana and Wayoming, the land of dinosaurs ?!
Mr Kirkland, how much can…
Mr Kirkland, how much can Kenyans do if police with sniffer dogs haven’t successfully found Irene.
Have police done a lie…
Have police done a lie detector on Hightman?
They know he did it but lack evidence.
If authorities have failed with all their resources, what are Kenyans to do, can’t even access private property where she’s likely buried.
Kenyan Embassy in USA should…
Kenyan Embassy in USA should step in
Which embassy?Kenyan embassy…
Which embassy?Kenyan embassy is owned by it’s employees.It’s only open for three days a week to sell IDs to any willing buyer @$5o each.The embassy should be closed if the govt can’t overhaul it.
Mr. Kirkland, tell them the…
Mr. Kirkland, tell them the truth. If you go to Rome, do as Romans do. Americans joins other Americans and security officers in the woods to search for a missing person in a possible searching area. Even every John, Dick, and Harry joins those search groups. I call it, “its the right thing to do.” But of course Mr Kirkland is addressing Kenyans in Wyoming or those in adjacent areas. He might have note that it was only her brothers who were involved in the search. The noise you read on social media from Kenyans is either selfish complaints or blame games emanating from from dissatisfaction about this or that. And Kenyans wherever they are, lives in a clustered social status, just like the Indians from Delhi or Mumbai. They craftly choose whom to help, where to go, whom to associate with, and when to avail themselves. The Hustlers of America eg. GNAs, CNAs, LPNs, and those doing kazi ya mauano, cannot go any closer to those who are enlightened or educated. I mean, the latter cannot attend or contribute anything to the former. But these elites will form a network with hustlers to help them assist one of their own. Seems Munga and Wainaina and the sister were/are hustlers and that is why Mr. Kirkland is upset. As a Chief Hustler, I know it and I have lived it. Just saying.
Sad, sad indeed.
Sad, sad indeed.