Details of woman found dead in Nairobi apartment weeks after last being seen

The body of a 32-year-old woman has been found inside her apartment in Lavington, Nairobi, weeks after she was last seen by neighbours.

Mercy Maina was reportedly last seen in early August at For Homes Apartments within Valley Arcade, where she lived.

According to the apartment management, concern over her whereabouts grew after residents noticed a foul smell coming from her house.

The building's manager told NTV that he first received a report about the smell on August 12.

The manager said he went to the premises and asked residents to open their houses so that he could establish where the smell was coming from.

Maina, however, did not open her door.

Attempts to reach her by phone also went unanswered.

As the days passed, the manager contacted the apartment owner to establish whether Mercy had communicated with him or given any explanation for her absence.

It was not until September 3 that the manager reported the matter to officers at Muthangari Police Station.

Police officers subsequently went to the apartment and forced open the door.

Inside, they found Maina's body on her bed in an advanced state of decomposition.

According to the preliminary report, a jiko containing burnt charcoal was also found in the room.

Scenes of Crime personnel processed the scene before the body was moved to the City Mortuary.

The circumstances surrounding her death remain under investigation. According to the report, Mercy was alleged to have taken her own life, although the account does not provide details of any formal post-mortem findings.

She is also reported to have left a message in which she urged people not to judge others and instead encouraged them to show greater love to one another.

In the message, Maina expressed appreciation to her landlord for being patient with her whenever she was unable to pay her rent.

She also asked that her belongings be handed over to her mother, whom she had hoped to build a house for.

Mercy further expressed wishes concerning her funeral arrangements, including that she should not receive a traditional burial.

She asked her mother to forgive her and expressed her wish to be cremated or laid to rest in a river, noting her love for rivers.

Her mother, however, described her daughter as a bubbly person who loved people.

She said the family was still struggling to come to terms with Mercy's death and was consulting on how best to give her a send-off.

The mother said she had spoken to Maina at the beginning of August and had not noticed anything suggesting that her daughter was experiencing serious difficulties.

For neighbours who knew her, the news has been particularly difficult to process.

Residents recalled Mercy as a friendly woman, with one of the memories that stood out being her giving gifts to children in the neighbourhood during her last days in the community. She also left behind her cat.

The discovery has raised questions about how long a person could remain inside a residential building without anyone realising that she was in distress or had died.

For nearly a month, Mercy's absence went largely unnoticed until the smell from her apartment prompted residents and management to investigate.

Her death has now left her family consulting on her final send-off, while the circumstances surrounding what happened inside the apartment remain the subject of police inquiries.