Nicholas Sang, the honey gatherer who picked Sh27, 850 in the forest and handed it over.
A honey gatherer has surprised many after he stumbled on Sh27,850 in a forest and handed it to a family in Bomet.
The cash is believed to have been left by a man who has been missing for 12 days.
Nicholas Sang, 27, said he was on a honey gathering mission in Bondet Forest that is owned by Maramara Tea Estate when he stumbled on the money.
"The money was lying on the ground in the middle of the forest. Besides the money, I recovered a pair of socks and a handkerchief," he said.
Mr Sang, who also plucks tea, said the puzzle as to who the money belonged to was solved when he also stumbled on a wallet.
"From it, I retrieved a national identification card belonging to Robert Kipkurui Tonui from Kapsengere village in Bomet County," he said.
Sang said he also retrieved from the wallet a boda boda sale agreement, which indicated that Tonui, 27, had sold a motorcycle for Sh60,000 and that he had received Sh30,000 as deposit.
Returned home
"After picking the money and the other documents, I returned home before proceeding to look for Tonui's home to hand over the items," he said.
Sang said when he finally managed to locate Tonui's home, he found his mother and he was shocked when he was told the owner of the documents had been missing since April 7.
"The family reported the matter at the local police station and we returned to Bondet Forest, where the search party found additional items belonging to Tonui. They included a coat, underwear and another pair of socks," he said.
Yesterday divers from Bomet rescue team combed the nearby Maramara dam in search of Tonui, but found nothing.
The intense search in Bondet Forest and the Maramara dam has been ongoing for the last four days.
Ester Simotwo, Tonui's mother, said she last saw her son on April 6.
"My son has been working as a power saw operator and just left home without telling me where he was going," she said.
Mrs Simotwo said she believed her son, a father of one, was still alive.
Tonui's relative, former Roads Minister Franklin Bett, who has been among those leading the search party, said he believed the man was alive.
Relatives’ plea
"Let him hear us from wherever he is that his mother and other relatives have agonised long enough," said Mr Bett.
He asked the youth to learn to seek counselling whenever they were depressed.
He commended Sang for his honesty, saying he was worth emulating.
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