Missing Brazilian missionary found burnt in abandoned car in Mwihoko
It is not clear if the missionary was killed because of his work or if there was any other motive.
Detectives are investigating the macabre murder of a Brazilian missionary whose burnt body was found in an abandoned car in Mwihoko area, Nairobi.
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The body was later identified as that of Francisco Antonio Chages Barbosa, a Brazilian national who was a missionary at Corner Stone Intercommunity Church Utawala.
His body was found on Thursday morning at about 1 am by locals who called the police.
He had been reported missing at the Mihango police station in Kayole on June 7 at about 10 pm by his wife Franciane De Oliveira Barbosa.
She told police she could not trace her husband and it was strange because he never stayed out for long without communication.
Police had hardly started their search when they were informed there was a burning car abandoned on the roadside in Mwihoko, about ten kilometers away from his workstation.
A team rushed to the scene of the fire and found a Nissan Wingroad registration on fire.
The fire was contained by a fire brigade from Ruiru.
It is not clear if the missionary was killed because of his work or if there was any other motive.
Nairobi police boss Adamson Bungei said the team found the body of Barbosa burnt beyond recognition on the right side of the car boot.
The car’s passenger seat had been folded then.
Police suspect the man had been killed elsewhere and had been doused with fuel before the car was set on fire.
The body was later moved to the mortuary.
On Thursday, the security teams including those from homicide, Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau and Crime Scene Investigations visited the scene again.
They joined those from Kayole who are leading the probe.
The teams have so far talked to the family of the deceased to establish if the deceased had complained of any threats or had fights at his place of work.
“Such incidents are usually linked to work or money. We will talk to all concerned parties to get to the root of this,” said Bungei.
He said an autopsy on the body will give more details about how he died and help in the probe.
No arrest has been made so far. Officials said the Brazilian embassy in Nairobi has been informed of the murder as the probe goes on.