Teary Christmas for family whose daughter, a KMTC student, called home crying only to be found dead

A family in Kisii is mourning the death of their 18-year-old daughter, who was found dead in a KMTC hostel on Monday, December 23.

Lorene Onkoba, a First-Year nursing student, was reported missing on December 19, a day after she completed her exams at the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) Nakuru campus.

Onkoba’s mother, Concepta Osinde, filed a missing person’s report at the Nakuru Central Police Station after her phone calls to the teenager went unanswered on December 18. Lorene had earlier called her mother, and informed her that she would be travelling to their Keumbu home in Kisii County for Christmas and New Year celebrations.

A search for Onkoba began in earnest, and on December 23, security officers at KMTC-Nakuru campus found her body hanging from a rope tied to the roof of her room in the hostels.

Her relatives, however, believed that their daughter was killed by someone else and her body planted in the room to appear like she committed suicide.

Onkoba’s body was taken to the Nakuru County Referral Hospital morgue, where a postmortem examination was conducted on Tuesday, December 24.

The autopsy report seen by K24 Digital indicated that Onkoba suffocated to death as a result of the hanging, and that there were zero signs of struggle.

“By the time we found her body on December 23, it had decomposed,” Nakuru West OCPD Samson Gathuku told K24 Digital.

Though the reason behind Onkoba’s suicidal ideation remains unclear, Gathuku said her mother told police that early December 18, Onkoba called her while in tears.

“Osinde said her daughter confided in her that she was depressed. The mother claimed she encouraged her daughter to be strong, and promised to help her regain her well-being when she arrives home,” said Gathuku.

The Nakuru West police boss says Osinde did not reveal Onkoba’s reason for depression.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing, police say.