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 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, Ms Odour, 40, 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], Ms Odour said. 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 she became suspicious when he did not contact her again.
Retracing his steps, she discovered that he had taken a bus with the boys more than 900km east to Kwa Binzaro. A few weeks later, she tragically learned that her husband was found dead in the Malindi mortuary, reportedly having died by strangulation, allegedly part of the cult's horrific practices.
As the investigations unfold, new bodies continue to be exhumed from the area associated with the cult, intensifying the pain for Ms Odour as she struggles with uncertainty over her children's fate. Every time I see a child wearing a uniform, I feel pain because of their absence. I don't know how they are doing.\
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 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, Ms Odour, 40, 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], Ms Odour said. 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 she became suspicious when he did not contact her again.
Retracing his steps, she discovered that he had taken a bus with the boys more than 900km east to Kwa Binzaro. A few weeks later, she tragically learned that her husband was found dead in the Malindi mortuary, reportedly having died by strangulation, allegedly part of the cult's horrific practices.
As the investigations unfold, new bodies continue to be exhumed from the area associated with the cult, intensifying the pain for Ms Odour as she struggles with uncertainty over her children's fate. Every time I see a child wearing a uniform, I feel pain because of their absence. I don't know how they are doing.\
