Friends of Irene Gakwa, Kenyan woman who went missing, in USA to hold walk
Family and friends of Ms Irene Gakwa, the Kenyan woman who went missing in the United States of America, have organized for a walk to be held on Sunday, May 28, 2023 as the search for the missing woman continues.
Ms Gakwa went missing in February 2022 with her boyfriend Nathan Hightman being named as a key suspect since he was the last person to interact with her.
“Search for Irene Gakwa. The weather is warming up, time to get our feet back on the ground. This will be an on foot search. We will meet in the Gillette Theater Parking lot closest to the highway where we will go over safety search guidelines and locations covering,” Gakwa’s friends said in a statement.
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The search for Ms Gakwa kicked off immediately it she went missing and the walk will be the third one to be held since her disappearance.
This comes at a time when already Hightman has admitted to taking Sh428,621 from her account. He pleaded guilty to unlawfully using Ms Gakwa’s credit card after she went missing.
The theft was discovered when Ms Gakwa’s family went through her bank account details after she was reported missing.
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As a result of his plea, Mr Hightman was jailed as he awaits sentencing for the offences.
District Judge James M. “Mike” ordered Mr. Hightman to be jailed and accepted his plea, dismissing an additional count of theft and crimes against intellectual property, per the plea negotiations.
Under US law, the maximum sentence for each of the theft and unlawful use of a credit card convictions is up to 10 years in prison, a Sh1,000,000 fine, or both, while the maximum for the crimes against intellectual property count is three years in prison and/or a Sh300,000 fine.
Ms Gakwa’s family reported her missing on March 20, 2022. The police consider Mr Hightman to be a “person of interest” in her disappearance.
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