It has been 17 agonizing days since veteran mountain guide Samuel Macharia vanished into the thin air of Mt Kenya, leaving behind a baffled family and a trail of unanswered questions.

Macharia, 35, disappeared on December 23, 2025, while guiding two Japanese tourists and a team of porters along the Sirimon route. He was last seen near Shipton's Camp, a popular stopover for climbers aiming for the summit. What makes the case chilling is the discovery of his personal effects—his ID, phone, and food supplies—found neatly placed on a footpath, with no sign of a struggle.

A Premeditated Act or Altitude Sickness?

The "neat placement" of items has fueled theories of a voluntary disappearance, but his family vehemently disagrees. "He was happy, he was working," says his brother Daniel Kagwaini, who hired him for the job. "Why would he walk away into the wilderness?"

• The HACE Theory: Experts suggest Macharia might have suffered from High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE), a condition that causes confusion and hallucinations. Victims often irrationally discard clothing or items before wandering off.
• The Search: A multi-agency search involving KWS rangers and aerial surveillance has yielded nothing. The family accuses KWS of a sluggish initial response, claiming bad weather was used as an excuse to delay the chopper search.
• History of Disappearances: This is not the first time the mountain has "taken" a guide. In 2020, another guide vanished in the Aberdares. The incident raises serious safety concerns about the monitoring of solo movements by porters on the mountain.

Hope Fades

As the days turn into weeks, the hope of finding Macharia alive dims. But for his family in Nanyuki, the absence of a body means they cannot mourn—they can only wait in a torturous limbo.