Carolyne Odour has told the BBC she desperately fears for the fate of her two young sons who went missing two months ago with their father - a follower of the teachings of a notorious starvation cult leader.
Ms Odour says that amid an ongoing investigation into more deaths linked to the cult, she has identified her husband's body at a mortuary in the coastal town of Malindi. His corpse was found in July in the village of Kwa Binzaro, located near the remote Shakahola Forest, where over 400 bodies were discovered in one of the worst-ever cases of cult-related mass deaths.
Now, she is awaiting the results of DNA tests being carried out on more than 30 bodies that were recently unearthed.
I felt pain. I barely recognised him. His body was badly decomposing, Ms Odour, 40, said about her husband Samuel Owino Owoyo. She believes her sons, 12-year-old Daniel and nine-year-old Elijah, traveled with their 45-year-old father to Kwa Binzaro at the end of June.
Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie is currently on trial over the so-called Shakahola Forest Massacre and has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. He is alleged to have told his followers they would reach heaven more quickly if they stopped eating, raising concerns he has continued to communicate with his followers from jail.
Ms Odour states that her husband had started listening to Mr. Mackenzie's teachings four or five years ago, which led to tension regarding their children's education and health interventions. Approaching the two-month mark of her children's disappearance, she grows more and more anxious as the exhumation of bodies continues in the forest.
Government officials in Kenya are seeking to introduce stricter laws targeting religious extremism and radicalization, while local residents are shocked as this investigation has disrupted their reliance on the forest for resources.
For Ms. Odour, every passing day without news of her children intensifies her heartache, as she reflects on their absence and the life they had ahead in school.
