Police have launched a manhunt after a suspected serial killer escaped from an open prison in Kenya.
Jumaisi Kalusha, a prime suspect in the murders of 42 women whose mutilated bodies were found dumped inside a quarry in Kware, Nairobi, escaped jail last year and is still at large.
In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, Kenyan police said that rumours circulating about him being recaptured are all false and that he is still on the run.
According to the allegations, Kalusha was arrested in Launda, Vihiga County, after an altercation with travellers in a matatu and was being detained at the Naivasha Police Station.
Detectives working on the case in Nairobi said: “Our attention has been drawn to information circulating online regarding the re-arrest of Collins Jumaisi, the prime suspect in the grisly Kware murders, who escaped from Gigiri Police Station in August 2024,”
“We wish to clarify that the information about his re-arrest is false, and Collins Jumaisi remains at large,” the detectives added.
A one million Kenyan dollar bounty has been offered as a reward (9000 US) to anyone who provides information leading to his recapture.
The DCI said that they are determined to apprehend Jumaisi and to take him to court where he will be tried for the killings.
It is alleged that Jumaisi strangled his first victim who was his wife to death before disposing of her body in the Kware pit which is barely 100 metres away from his house.
Collins admitted to 42 murders after his arrest which he later denied saying he was coerced into making the admissions by police. The victims were killed and their bodies were wrapped and disposed of in a similar manner.
It is believed all the victims were murdered between 2022 and July 11, 2024.
A search of his house led police to discover a machete which the suspect admitted to have used to dismember the bodies before disposing of them. Other personal gadgets including sim cards which are believed to belong to his victims were also discovered.
A local government official in Nairobi said: ” This man is a very dangerous individual if he is the one responsible for all these murders. He should be arrested as soon as possible before he commits any more murders. The police have to act now before it is too late.”