NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 21 – Detectives have established that an Instagram page acted as a first meeting point for 7 teenage girls who had gone missing ufor several days until Friday when they were traced by police.
This is the latest case involving a group of conmen who lure young girls idle at home after schools were closed in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They also target young professionals for money.
Three of the girls were traced by detectives from the Child Protection Unit based at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). Four others are said to have gone back to their homes in Komarocks and Kamulu after the three showed up at Central Police Station in Nairobi.
“When asked where she was, she said she just needed to get away,” a relative told Capital FM News.
What detectives have found interesting is that the teenagers seem to have had a “good time” all through as captured on an Instagram page where they posted their daily pictures.
The page has since been deleted.
The three girls told police that they were at a friend’s house, who is aged 21 years old.
“All of them will be interrogated to establish where they were and with who,” DCI boss George Kinoti said, “we are also seeking to know more about the gang involved.”
Two of the people said to have been linked to the dissapearance have been arrested.
The girls went missing on the morning of November 14 and according to a relative, some of them were called by a line registered in the USA.
She added that, “I tried calling it but it did not go through. We are working closely with the police to bring them home.”
Just recently, detectives arrested a man who always posed as a wealthy businessman willing to sponsor young girls to holiday destinations of their choice.
He would then lure them to hotels and eventually in lodgings where most reported losing their belongings as the ‘businessman’ dissapeared.
Police believe this latest incident is linked to such tricks.