The frantic search for a 44-year-old teacher at Muhoya Secondary School has come to a tragic end after his body was discovered inside his house at Ihururu village in Nyeri County.

The naked body of computer teacher Joseph Gathogo was found inside his sitting room by his caretaker William Gitau after he is reported to have gone missing on December 22, 2022.

What is strange is that the body was found nailed to a coffin after Gitau realized a foul smell coming from his house on Thursday and alerted police who broke into the teacher’s house.

The said coffin had been placed inside a structure that resembled a boat with a bouquet of flowers, scrolls having strange writings, a black flag and a cow horn placed close to it.

According to police reports, an unidentified drug was also found at the scene with police conducting further tests to establish its contents and any possible links to his bizarre death.


Gathogo is reported to have disappeared in December after supervising Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams, according to the area Assistant Chief Martha Wanjiru.

A missing person report was filed at the area police station after one of his relatives came looking for him at his residence on Saturday January 7 but could not trace him.

Gitau told reporters that he last saw the late Gathogo on December 19, 2022 and describes him as a loner who was rarely seen outside the house when he was not going to work.

Nyeri County Police Commander Steve Oloo says the bizarre death is being investigated as the body was taken to Nyeri Provincial General Hospital morgue to await a post-mortem.