Mother's Heartbreak: A Desperate Search for Sons Missing in Kenya's Starvation Cult Tragedy

Sat Sep 13 2025 10:47:51 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

Carolyne Odour fears for the fate of her two sons who went missing after their father took them to join a dangerous cult. As she waits for DNA results from exhumed bodies, the horror of their disappearance weighs heavily on her heart.

Two months after her two sons vanished with their father, Carolyne Odour mourns the potential loss as investigations into a starvation cult unravel dark secrets. Her husband, a follower of cult leader Paul Mackenzie, was recently identified among the deceased. With ongoing DNA tests on over 30 unearthed bodies, Carolyne expresses her anguish, fearing for her sons' lives amidst horrifying discoveries linked to the infamous 'Shakahola Forest Massacre.'

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, 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 Ms Odour started to get suspicious when he did not contact her again.

She later found he had not gone to his parents' village in Homa Bay county, which is also near Lake Victoria, around 200km (125 miles) south of Mudulusia.

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.

Following an investigation by Kenya's Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, 11 people were arrested in connection with the case, including three who were followers of Mr Mackenzie.

Dr Raymond Omollo, a senior civil servant in the Ministry of Interior, told the BBC that the government intended to introduce tougher laws to tackle religious extremism and radicalisation in the country.

Ms Odour continues her agonising wait to learn the whereabouts of her two sons.

I was looking forward to one of my sons going to grade 7 and the other grade 4, she said. Every time I see a child wearing a uniform I feel pain because of their absence. I don't know how they are doing.