Family agony after university student Ivy Anyango’s body found in Athi River reservoir
The family of 22-year-old university student Ivy Anyango is seeking answers following the discovery of a decomposing body in a water reservoir behind Orange County Hostels in Athi River, Machakos County, months after she went missing.
Anyango, a student at the Cooperative University of Kenya, disappeared on June 9, 2026.
Her family and friends now believe she could be the woman whose remains were recovered from the man-made reservoir on September 5, near Daystar University’s Athi River campus.
Her family is awaiting DNA test results to establish the identity of the remains formally, although relatives say they recognised features and personal belongings that they associate with the missing student.
Police picked her tooth for further analysis.
Her mother, Jackline Matunga, said a wristband and hairstyle helped her identify the body.
“The wristband was intact and that is how I identified her,” she said.
The discovery has renewed calls for information about Anyango’s whereabouts between June and September, as investigators seek to establish how she died and how her body ended up inside the reservoir.
According to her mother, Anyango’s last message indicated that she had returned to Rongai. Subsequent attempts to reach her were unsuccessful.
Friends said they had maintained regular communication with the student before contact stopped around the time she reportedly lost her mobile phone.
Anyango lived with a roommate in Rongai but frequently travelled to Athi River, where she had friends studying at Daystar University.
Her disappearance left relatives and friends searching for answers, with the circumstances surrounding her final movements remaining unclear.
Those close to her are now appealing to anyone who saw or communicated with her from June onwards to share information that could assist detectives.
The first public reports about the discovery emerged on September 6, a day after a caretaker at Orange County Hostels reported finding the remains of an unidentified woman inside a man-made water reservoir behind the premises.
Police who responded to the scene found that the body was decomposed, making immediate identification difficult.
Preliminary investigations reportedly uncovered bloodstains on the walls of room A031 and broken panes on a rear window, raising questions about what may have happened inside the room.
Investigators were reported to be examining the possibility that the woman had been forced through the rear window before her body was dumped into the reservoir. However, the circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation, and this theory has not been independently established.
The room was initially linked to a former occupant identified only as Natasha, who reportedly vacated the premises about a month before the body was discovered. The significance of that information, if any, remains unclear.
Police processed the hostel and surrounding area before the remains were transferred to the Machakos Level Five Hospital mortuary for identification and postmortem examination.
The case has left investigators with several unanswered questions, including when Anyango was last seen alive, where she spent the weeks after her disappearance and whether anyone had information about her movements before the body was discovered.
Friends and relatives are particularly interested in hearing from people who encountered her around Athi River or Daystar University, communicated with her after June 9, or may have information about activities at Orange County Hostels.
There have also been claims that several people were questioned in connection with the discovery and later released. These claims have not been independently confirmed, and investigators have not publicly clarified the circumstances of any such questioning.
The matter has been reported to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, with detectives expected to establish the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death and determine whether anyone was involved.
For the family, the identification process and ongoing investigations represent a search for answers after months of uncertainty.
While the discovery may help establish what happened to the missing student, the period between her disappearance in June and the recovery of the body in September remains a critical part of the investigation.
The family is appealing to anyone with credible information about Anyango’s last known movements to come forward and assist detectives in establishing the truth.
