By ZADOCK ANGIRA
Police in Chonyi, Kilifi County, are pursuing two brothers suspected of murdering and burying their 80-year-old grandmother, who has been missing since July 11.
Police have sought court orders to exhume a body believed to be that of Zipporah Willmote, a resident of Mitulani village in Chonyi.
The development follows the discovery of a partially concealed grave within the missing woman’s compound on Saturday, August 22.
Gabriel Chongo, who stumbled upon the grave, told police that it had been covered with grass and tree branches.
Chongo said he searched the surrounding area after making the discovery and found two jembes hidden in a nearby bush.
The discovery has heightened suspicions that the elderly woman could have been killed and buried in her compound.
Willmote was last seen in the company of her grandchildren, William Mwamumba, 20, and Sande Mwamumba, 16, who have since gone underground.
Family members reported her disappearance at Chasimba Police Station on July 14, three days after she was last seen.
Following the report, police circulated a missing-person alert to police stations across the country as efforts to trace her whereabouts intensified.
Investigators are now seeking permission from the court to exhume the body and establish whether it is that of the missing woman.
The suspected involvement of the two brothers remains under investigation, and police are yet to establish the circumstances surrounding Willmote’s disappearance and the discovery of the grave.
