A three-year-old boy who went missing from Malindi was found safe through a dramatic cross-border police operation that ended when detectives captured a suspected kidnapper who tried to escape through the Horohoro Border into Tanzania.
Security agencies took immediate action, which created an emergency situation because child abductions were increasing, but authorities received recognition for their successful operation that returned the missing child.
The boy was reported missing on February 13, 2026, when his distraught mother discovered he had vanished from their home in Malindi’s central area after she returned from work. Police launched an immediate search operation, which used forensic evidence to track down a suspect who had been last seen with the child.
The suspect was identified by investigators, who described him as a 29-year-old Ugandan national whose real name was Arnold Ethan and who worked at a nearby nail salon that served customers from his family business. The suspect used his last contact with the child before he disappeared, which made police search for him all over the area.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in Malindi worked in tandem with officers from Lunga Lunga and Tanzanian counterparts to track the suspect’s movements southward toward the border. The joint team arrested him at Horohoro, which occurred only minutes before he planned to enter Tanzania with the child he had taken.
The boy showed signs of distress when police found him, but his body remained undamaged. The boy was taken to Malindi Sub-County Hospital, where medical personnel conducted evaluations to check his health, which resulted in his return to his parents. The emotional reunion marked the end of an intense 48-hour search that had gripped the coastal town.
The suspect is now at Malindi Police Station for police interrogation before court charges will be officially brought against him. The authorities continue their investigation work, which includes determining the motive for the incident and examining its potential links to broader regional child trafficking and abduction patterns.
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