Missing Lawyer, Taxi Driver's Bodies Retrieved From River In Kilimambogo.

The body believed to be that of lawyer Willie Kimani who went missing over a week ago and that of the missing taxi driver have been found at Kilimambogo.

The two bodies were pulled out of Ol Donyo Sabuk River in Kilimambogo late Thursday and taken to the City Mortuary.

A police source confirmed that two bodies were found on the bank of a river 70km north-east of Nairobi. A search is ongoing at the site to find the third body, a bodaboda operator Josephat Mwenda who is still missing.

Residents called police after spotting the two bodies floating in Ol Donyo Sabuk River at about 5.30pm.

Mutungulu police boss Joseph Chesire said the bodies were taken to City Mortuary for identification.

Bodies from the area, which falls under Machakos police command, are usually taken to Machakos district mortuary. Police have extended their search upstream for more bodies.

Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss Ndegwa Muhoro said efforts to retrieve the missing body are under way.

At City Mortuary, the superintendent in charge said two bodies were brought in by police at 8.15am from Ol-Donyo Sabuk. Some of the mortuary attendants said the bodies were found with their hands tied behind their backs. The records at the morgue show that their cause of death was drowning.

Law Society of Kenya advocate Dan Kinuthia said the two were severely beaten and strangled. Their bodies are swollen and in bad shape, he said.

He said he identified the lawyer, "because he was my friend. He was a tiny guy but his body is too swollen... likely they killed him a long time ago," he said, outside the mortuary.

The second body, Mr Kinuthia said, was beaten up, had an ear missing and the hands were tied with a sisal rope.

The three went missing last Thursday while driving on Mombasa road from Mavoko law courts.

Kimani who was a lawyer with the International Justice Mission (IJM) had attended a court session in which his client, Mwenda, sued an AP officer for attempted murder. Three IJM staff members who were in a second car reported back to their offices after court.

Last Saturday, officials from IJM, family members and CID officers visited Naivasha District Hospital mortuary where they viewed bodies.

The bodies recovered from Monkey corner area were not of their kin. The victims appeared to have been strangled with ropes and had injuries on to the necks and hands. Investigators broadened their search to Bungoma, to where the signal of the mobile phone belonging to the driver was traced.

They took the statement of IJF staff and the lawyer's family members on Thursday but were yet to take those of the driver's relatives.

Earlier this morning, a court had given Inspector-General Joseph Boinnet and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) up to 2pm to give an interim report on the status of investigations over the disappearance of the three people.

The three were suspected to have been abducted by Administration Police (AP) officers on June 23.

The court heard that the three missing were last seen entering Syokimau AP camp, Machakos County, before they disappeared.

During the hearing, lawyers wanted the government to be compelled to disclose their whereabouts. They told the trial court that it is the responsibility of the State and representative agencies to ensure the safety of its citizens. The taxi they were travelling in was found abandoned at Kamirithu village in Tigoni on Saturday morning.

A mobile phone said to belong to the lawyer was traced to tea plantation in the area but is yet to be recovered. The third phone is yet to be recovered.

A man said to be a boda boda operator contacted Kimani's family by phone on Thursday claiming the lawyer had been locked up at Mlolongo AP camp. He claimed he had picked a note thrown from the window of a metal container at Mlolongo AP camp where the men were allegedly being held. The note contained the phone number of the lawyer’s wife.

IJM staff and Kimani’s family visited the AP camp at around 5 pm but did not find the men.