Kenyan Woman in the US Traced After 7-Year Search

A Kenyan woman in the US who lost contact with her family seven years ago has reportedly been traced.

Beatrice Adhiambo Olwal, alias Betty Olual, had last talked to her family in October 2013 by phone and they have been unsuccessfully looking for her since then.

The family had not heard anything about her until last year when an article dated August 2nd, 2019 popped up on google search indicating that she had been sexually assaulted in Jacksonville, Florida.

Beatrice told Jacksonville Police that she was raped outside the First Baptist Church downtown on July 23rd, 2019 moments after she was dropped off by a taxi.

As she walked along the pavement by the church at around 1.30 am, she was approached from behind by a man riding a black mountain bike. The man allegedly dropped his bike, held her at gunpoint, and sexually assaulted her before fleeing on his bike.

Beatrice went to a nearby hospital at 2:38 am, where she narrated her ordeal to health officers.

“What happened is unnerving. I stay near the church because I feel secure there,” she is quoted by a local station that described her as homeless.

A police report said the suspect was identified as Derek. “Officers went to the scene and found a wristband on the sidewalk next to the church,” noted a police report.

On Friday, sources told Kenya Satellite News Network that Beatrice’s family were finally able to trace her.