- A tense three-day search for 13-year-old Zaituni Wanjiru has ended in joy after she was found safe, thanks to the kindness of a stranger who trusted her instincts
- The teenager had been wandering the neighbourhood after a fallout with her mother, sleeping in a kibanda and selling plastic items to survive
- After an emotional reunion between mother and daughter, the youngster opened up about her three days on the run
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The tense search for 13-year-old Zaituni Wanjiru has come to a happy ending after the young girl was found safe, three days after vanishing from her family’s home in Kitengela.
Source: UGC
What began as every parent’s nightmare – an empty house, unanswered questions, and frightening silence – ended with an unexpected act of kindness from a stranger who trusted her instincts.
Where was Zaituni hiding?
Nairobi social worker Juliana Olayo told TUKO.co.ke that everything changed when a call came from a woman with genuine concern in her voice.
The caller, an elderly woman living near the same area where the teen disappeared, told her mother, Stella Wanja, that she had noticed the young girl wandering around the neighbourhood for three days.
The revelation painted a painful picture of the girl’s ordeal. On the first two nights after leaving home, Zaituni slept in a kibanda, exposed to the cold, fear and uncertainty.
“She had not gone far – just far enough to disappear, yet remain close enough to be found,” she said.
How stranger saved Zaituni
On the third day, the woman observed Zaituni selling plastic items to a local trader. Her behaviour stood out as she appeared tired, hungry and uneasy, with a restlessness that caught the woman’s attention.
Trusting her instincts, she approached the girl gently, offering some food and a place to rest. It was in that safe, quiet moment that Zaituni finally opened up.
“She told the woman she had experienced a fallout with her mother and chose to leave home on her own,” Juliana continued.
The elderly Good Samaritan listened, comforted the child, and quickly realised she needed to contact the family.
Source: UGC
Stella glad to have daughter back
For Stella, that call was a lifeline. She rushed to the woman’s home, where she found her daughter tired but safe, with the lady who had cared enough to intervene.
The reunion was emotional, equal parts relief, tears, and gratitude. Mother and daughter are now focused on healing, listening and ensuring that whatever caused the fallout does not recur.
Stella expressed deep appreciation for the woman who stepped in when no one else knew what was happening.
The mother is grateful that she got a second chance to hold her daughter closer, and that the story ended not in tragedy, but in hope.
How Zaituni Wanjiru disappeared
Zaituni’s mother had left for work at the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) early Friday morning, believing her daughter would complete the day’s chores and then head to school.
But when Stella returned that evening, she was met with an eerie stillness. The chores she had assigned were untouched, and the teenager was nowhere to be found.
The family searched the neighbourhood, knocking on doors and calling out her name, but no one had seen her.
With no eyewitnesses and no information about what she was wearing when she left, Stella was left clinging to hope and prayer.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
