Where is Stella Taraja? A teacher allegedly taken from her house in Saudi Arabia

Stella Cecilia Taraja who was allegedly taken from her house in Saudi Arabia. [Courtesy]

The family and friends of Stella Cecilia Taraja, a Kenyan teacher based in Saudi Arabia, are living in agony, gripped by unanswered questions weeks after she allegedly disappeared from her apartment under what they termed as disturbing and suspicious.

Stella, known among her friends as 'Faya,' was last heard from on December 25, 2025, when she called her mother who is in Kenya to wish her a Merry Christmas. 

According to her mother, the call was brief, with Stella promising to speak again later. She never did.

Days later, concern turned into fear when repeated attempts to reach her phone failed. Friends living in Saudi Arabia decided to check on her, only to find her apartment locked from the inside, and she was not there.

Mary Taraja, the mother, told The Standard that she became concerned after January 1, when the daughter didn't reach her with new year wishes, yet, when they spoke on December 25, she had promised to get back.

The alarm was raised on January 2, when one of Stella’s friends contacted the family, asking when they had last spoken to her. By then, her phone was going through but nobody was answering.

“When her friends went to her house, they did not find her. That is when everything became confusing and painful to me as the mother. Because initially we had thought maybe something had happened to her while in the house and sending people to check if she was okay would have given us the answers to the questions we had at the time," said Taraja.

An amateur video obtained by The Standard, recorded inside Stella’s apartment, shows a scene that has only deepened the mystery.

The door appears to have been locked from the inside, but a sliding window was open. Just below the window sits a couch with visible footprints, suggesting that someone may have accessed the house through the window.

Inside, Stella’s two mobile phones and laptop were found, scattered among her personal belongings. Friends say the house was in disarray, pointing to what they believe could have been a struggle.

“When her friends checked the window, they noticed footprints on the couch. From the video they shared, we could see two different footsteps.

Somebody gained access through that window,” her Mother Mary said.

Taraja said the family has since searched hospitals, police stations and even morgues in Saudi Arabia, with the help of friends in the gulf country, but she has not been found.

“I don’t know whether she is safe, whether she was arrested, or whether she was harmed. As a parent, I am stressed," said Mary.

Stella, 37, moved to Saudi Arabia in 2011 as a house help. Over time, she managed to transition into teaching.

According to friends, Stella lived in an apartment along Ar Rimal, Dammam Road, Exit 8, in Riyadh, and worked as a teacher at Smart Kids Montessori - Al Reem, where she taught lower grades.

One of Stella’s closest friends, Hawa Abdalla, who returned to Kenya in 2024 after years in Saudi Arabia, said the silence surrounding her disappearance is suspicious.

“I have known her for years. We lived together at one point, and we have remained close ever since," said Abdalla.

Abdalla said she last spoke to Stella on December 26, 2025, when Stella sent her a message that she didn't immediately answer.

“She checked on me a lot. That was her nature. When another friend asked me if I had talked to Faya, I went back to our chats and realised she had texted me. I replied immediately, but there was no response," she said.

It was then that she was told Stella had been missing for days.

Alarmed, Abdalla reached out to contacts still in Saudi Arabia and asked someone to physically visit Stella’s apartment, fearing that she may have fallen ill inside the house.

“My fear was that maybe she fainted. Those things happen. At the house, there was a seat with footsteps, two different footsteps. Her phone was on the floor, her laptop was there, and the house was a mess. She had just moved in," said Abdalla.

She said that attempts to trace Stella through her workplace also yielded no fruits.

She said that Stella had been on medication and regularly updated friends about her condition.

“It wouldn’t go two days without her checking on me, that is why this silence doesn’t make sense," said Abdalla.

Abdalla dismissed the possibility that Stella simply disappeared voluntarily.

“The way I know her, there is no way she would just vanish. If she had been arrested, the law there allows communication. Unless she was a high criminal, which I doubt,” said Abdalla.

She also hinted at unresolved personal differences Stella may have had with someone, stating that those individuals should be questioned.

Desperate for answers, the family wrote to the Principal Secretary for Diaspora Affairs on Thursday last week, appealing for government intervention.

“I am pleading with the government. Help me find my daughter and bring her home safe," said Mary.