A mother’s Easter nightmare: 12-year-old daughter disappears from home

Faith Oyor displays a photo of her daughter Shirleen Atieno during the interview with the Standard. [Elvis Ogina. Standard]

For most people, Easter is a time to go to church. A time when families get together and enjoy traditions while having wonderful meals together. 

While most families use this opportunity to build many precious memories based on these special holiday traditions Faith Ogoro keeps wishing this day never happened.

Her 12-year-old daughter Sharleen Atieno was on easter break form Happy Community Centre in Mukuru kwa Njenga and she came home at 10 ready to enjoy her long weekend.

“She came home had some snack and asked for my permission to play outside. I told her she can go out only if she comes back by 4:30 and those were my last words to her,” says Ogoro.

The 24-year-old mother who is pregnant with her second child says she let her child go playing with her friends hoping that she would be back on time.

At 5PM Ogoro says she started looking for her child hoping that she had just lost track of time.

“I asked the lady operating a chemist in our building and she said she saw Sharleen playing with her friends earlier in the day before they proceeded to Njenga. I panicked at this point,” she said.

Her search for her daughter that day did not bear any fruit and she continued to look for her since that day hoping that they might be reunited soon enough.

Faith who is pregnant with her second child says she let her child go playing with her friends hoping that she would be back on time. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

“The first moments of panic are awful, confusion, mad swivelling of the head, a tightness in the throat, then chest pains and the ghastly realisation that she was indeed missing,” she said.

Ogoro has since reported the matter to five different police stations including Central Police in the hope that she might be assisted in finding Sharleen.

“I have been trying to get help from police stations in Donholm, Kaloleni, Kware, Mukuru kwa Njenga and Central. They are my only hope,” she said.

She holds on to a picture of her daughter walking from all media houses in the hope that just one might highlight and hopefully bring her daughter back home.

“She was wearing a sleeveless purple dress, blue jumper and brown slippers when I last saw her,” she says.

Ogoro hopes and prays that she will be reunited with her child.