Kenyan national Irene Gakwa (right), who been reported missing in the US, and her boyfriend Nathan Nightman. PHOTO | COURTESY
Nathan Hightman, 38, is reported as the last man to see the missing Kenyan woman, Irene Gakwa, 32.
Ms Gakwa was last seen in February 2022.
When news of her disappearance hit the headlines, the sister of Mr Hitman – now the prime suspect – told the media that her older brother was smart, tech-savvy and spent his childhood always glued to computers.
Also read: FBI take over case of Irene Gakwa reported missing in the US
Other media outlets described him in various newscasts.
“A former coworker and friend, who said she casually dated Hightman for a time, recalled him as a man who created a rich fantasy life.
His unearthed 2019 resume chronicled the life of a California native who worked as a customer service representative and former co-owner of a computer design company,” international media reported this week.
However, to the police attached to Gillette, he is a person of interest, especially in the disappearance of Ms Gakwa.
Also read: Irene Gakwa: What we know so far about the Kenyan nurse missing in the US
Officers have described the disappearance as a mystery but they are working round the clock to unravel what transpired and where the lady who was studying nursing disappeared to.
Nairobi News in an early interview with Ms Gakwa’s family tried to piece together the last time they interacted with her before she went missing in late February when she called them.
On March 20, 2022, after missing in action both on video calls and via texts, her brothers, Mr Chris Gakwa and Mr Kennedy Wainaina reported that their sister was nowhere to be seen.
It is then that police officers launched investigations into the matter before they went ahead and grilled Mr Hightman who resided with Ms Gakwa.
Also read: ‘Noisy’ Kenyans blasted for not doing enough to find the missing Irene Gakwa
Mr Hightman told the police that Ms Gakwa who he met through an online dating site left on her own accord at about the time she last spoke with her parents.
He said that she returned from dinner one evening and announced that she was leaving; she then packed her belongings in two plastic bags, entered a dark-coloured SUV and left the area. He said he hasn’t seen or heard from her since.
In May, Mr Hightman was charged with five felonies related to financial and intellectual property crimes against Ms Gakwa.
The charges include three felonies involving transferring over Sh370,000 from Ms Gakwa’s bank account, maxing out her credit card, changing her banking password and deleting an email account.
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It is worth noting that on October 13, 2022, police in Gillette and those attached to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) conducted a search in Mr Hightman’s house where they collected several boxes of evidence.
Currently, all the boxes have been sent to the FBI laboratory for processing no information has been revealed about the findings.
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