Irene Gakwa, 32, thrived upon her move to America. The recent immigrant from Kenya lived with her family in Idaho before moving to Gillette, Wyoming.
While in Idaho, Gakwa split time living with her brothers, making friends and taking classes in hopes of becoming a nurse. Then, she met a man on Craigslist named Nathan Hightman.
“It seemed OK. At that time, everything seemed OK. I didn’t really know Nathan, but I said, ‘If you’re going to date my sister, I really need to know about you and it’s going to take a time or two to hang out,’” Gakwa’s brother Kennedy Wainaiana recalled.
Wainaiana learned that in the summer of 2021, Gakwa moved with Hightman to Wyoming. The couple was engaged.
But Wainaiana grew concerned when he noticed that Gakwa’s texts had changed.
“We’re from Kenya and sometimes we mix English and a language called Swahili,” Wainaiana said.
He added that, “We mix a word of English and a word of Swahili, so I can tell that’s her. But then, on March 5, I texted her and asked her something. She texted back, and it was only English. So now that I know what I know, maybe it wasn’t her.”
A group of searchers is desperate to find Irene Gakwa, a recent immigrant from Kenya who went missing in the Gillette, Wyoming, area.
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Police talked to Hightman the same day Gakwa was reported missing. He claimed he last saw Gakwa in late February, when she came home one night, packed her clothing in two plastic bags, and left in a dark-colored SUV,
the affidavit said.
Hightman allegedly stole from Gakwa after she went missing. He reportedly withdrew money from her account after the disappearance in addition to deleting her email and changing her passwords. He was arrested on May 10, 2022, for “two felony counts of theft, one felony count of unlawful use of a credit card, and two felony counts of crimes against intellectual property,” according to
PEOPLE.
On the day after that last WhatsApp call Gakwa had with her family, Hightman used her credit card to purchase a shovel, jeans, and boots.
Her family continues to speak out about their heartbreak and dedication to find justice for Gakwa.
"She's always been a daddy's girl," Francis Kambo, the missing woman’s father, told CNN. "She was supposed to come home for Christmas this year. I was going to buy that ticket myself for her to come if she couldn't afford it. Now I don't know if I'll ever see her again."
Hightman has not been charged in connection with Gakwa’s disappearance but is considered a person of interest. On June 8, 2022, Hightman pleaded not guilty to all charges against him and was released on a $10,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court in November 2022.
If you have any information about this case, please contact the Gillette Police Department at 307-682-5155.
Kenyan native Irene Gakwa moved to the United States to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse. Less than three years later, in March 2022, she was reported missing.
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