Mombasa family in agony after Form 2 son went missing while reporting for term 2: “Sijui ako hai”

A Mombasa family is desperate for answers after their 17-year-old son vanished nearly three months ago on his way back to school Jacob Omwoy...

• A Mombasa family is desperate for answers after their 17-year-old son vanished nearly three months ago on his way back to school
• Jacob Omwoyo was last seen boarding a bus in uniform, but his school in Kisii says he never arrived, and no one raised the alarm
• His last phone signal pinged in Nakuru, and since then, silence, leaving his mother clinging to hope that he’s still alive

Didacus Malowa, a journalist at Best for you.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

A Mombasa family is living through a nightmare after their 17-year-old son vanished without a trace while travelling back to school nearly three months ago.

Jacob Omwoyo, a Form Two student at St. Kizito Nyansiongo Boys High School in Kisii county, was last seen on April 28.

He left home dressed in his school uniform, ready to resume learning after the April holidays.

However, unlike his sister, who was heading to a nearby school in Kisii and arrived safely, Jacob never made it.

At the family’s home in Mombasa, the air was thick with pain as silence and unease told the story.

It's a silence filled with questions, fear, and a mother’s unwavering hope that her son is still alive.

At first, the family had no reason to suspect anything was wrong for they believed their son had reached school as expected.

It wasn’t until nearly a month later that his father grew concerned and asked a friend who was visiting Kisii to check in on Jacob. That’s when reality sank in.

The class teacher reportedly told the friend that Jacob had not returned to school for the second term.

"We don’t know whether he arrived or not, and the teachers aren’t telling us directly whether he got to school. When you ask, they just say the child didn’t arrive. They also say some students were sent away for not finishing their assignments, and we don’t know if our child was among them," lamented his mum.

Jacob’s last known phone location was traced to Nakuru Railways area and after that, every clue went silent, just a void that’s been growing since April.

"To this day, three months later, I don’t know where my child is. I don’t know if my child is alive. I have no idea where the child is; he’s such a quiet child. I don’t know if he’s alive. I don’t know who he’s with. I just don’t know if he’ll realise he’s being looked for and try to come back home," his mother said through tears.

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Who is at fault for Jacob's disappearance?

Jacob had only joined the school in January and had completed his first term without any reported issues.

According to the school, it was the role of the class teacher and parents to keep in touch, an explanation that has left the family deeply frustrated.

His father questioned why no alarm was raised when Jacob failed to report back, insisting it was up to the school to make the communication.

"That’s why on that day I communicated with the teacher, and once I had communicated with the teacher, it was the teacher who was supposed to take responsibility and find out that the child hadn’t arrived. And if they hadn’t, then they should have contacted the parent," said his father

The school has since installed a biometric check-in system to monitor student attendance, but the timing of the move has only deepened the family’s suspicion.

"When they realised I was going to file a complaint or could take legal action, that’s when they installed the biometric system," the father added.

The family is now appealing to the public and authorities for any information that could help bring Jacob back.