The body of a woman who went missing last week in Mogotio, Baringo County has been recovered.

The decomposing remains of 42-year-old Veronica Kanini were exhumed from a shallow grave in a secluded area prone to snakes along Molo River, a tributary to Lake Baringo.

Her discovery came after the murder suspect Moses Kipchirchir Ruto led the detectives to the scene.

Kanini, a mother of 5, was a trader who sold seat covers in Mogotio town. She plied her trade between Mogotio and Nakuru town.

On the fateful day of her disappearance, Kanini went about her business as usual. 

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At around 6 pm, Kanini called her husband Marco Njuguna and asked him to send her Sh3,000 urgently. 

While inquiring about the purpose of the money she was asking for, Njuguna heard a male voice in the background instructing her to speak in Swahili.

Immediately after the call, Njuguna set for Mogotio in search of his wife, who by that time had called their neighbours asking for an unspecified amount of money.

After his attempts to find his wife proved futile, investigations into her whereabouts were launched that night. The DCIO Luka Tumbo contacted detectives from the Crime Search and Intelligence Bureau from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters to assist with the investigation.

On November 13, the detectives busted the murder suspect at his house in the night's cover and arrested him after phone records showed he was the recipient of the ransom money that Kanini’s friends sent.

He initially denied any involvement in Kanini’s disappearance only to recant his statement and confess to killing her remains on Wednesday.

According to his confession, Ruto revealed he strangled the poor woman to death on Friday night and left her at the scene of the murder.

He returned the following morning with a jembe and dug a shallow grave where he unceremoniously buried her.

The preliminary investigation conducted by Cybercrime and crime scene detectives placed Ruto at the scene of Kanini’s murder.

The Eldama Ravine Court had granted the detectives custodial orders to hold the suspect for 14 more days to complete the investigations.

Kanini’s body was moved to Nakuru Municipality Mortuary for postmortem.