Carolyne Odour has told the BBC she desperately fears for 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, inland from Malindi and near the remote Shakahola Forest, where more than 400 bodies were found in 2023 in one of the worst ever cases of cult-related mass deaths. Ms Odour is now awaiting the results of DNA tests being carried out on more than 30 recently unearthed bodies. I felt pain. I barely recognised him. His body was badly decomposing, she said about her husband Samuel Owino Owoyo. She believes her sons, 12-year-old Daniel and nine-year-old Elijah, travelled 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 get to heaven more quickly if they stopped eating - and there have been concerns he has been in touch with his followers from jail. Ms Odour says her husband started listening to the teachings of Mr Mackenzie four or five years ago. He changed and he didn't want the kids to go to school, she said. When the kids would fall ill he'd say that God would heal them. He really believed those teachings. Two months ago on 28 June, the situation took a turn for the worse when her husband went off with their two youngest sons. He told me he was going to his home village [of birth]. The last phone call we had he told me, 'We have gone, God be with you.' And I told him, 'Have a safe trip.' But Ms Odour started to get suspicious when he did not contact her again. Retracing his steps, she discovered that he had taken a bus from their home in Busia county and travelled with the boys more than 900km east to Kwa Binzaro in Kenya's Kilifi county. A few weeks ago she got a call saying someone who matched her husband's description was in the Malindi mortuary. It was a devastating blow. Ms Odour learned that her husband’s body had been found in suspicious circumstances linked to the starvation cult, and she continues to agonize over the fate of her missing sons.
A Heartbreaking Wait: Mother Fears for Missing Sons Linked to Kenya's Cult

A Heartbreaking Wait: Mother Fears for Missing Sons Linked to Kenya's Cult
Carolyne Odour's heart-wrenching story unfolds as she struggles to find her missing sons, believed to be involved in a notorious starvation cult. Amidst a haunting investigation, she faces the agony of identifying her husband's remains.
Carolyne Odour is anxiously waiting for DNA results on her two sons who have been missing for two months. Their disappearance is linked to a starvation cult led by Paul Mackenzie. Her husband, who was also a follower of the cult, was identified among recent remains found in a mass grave. As the investigation continues, she mourns not only her husband's loss but also hopes to find her children alive amid the horrific circumstances surrounding the cult's activities, which promoted extreme fasting.