Carolyne Odour has told the BBC she desperately fears for the fate of her two young sons who went missing two months ago with their father - a follower of the teachings of a notorious starvation cult leader.
Ms Odour says that amid an ongoing investigation into more deaths linked to the cult she has identified her husband's body at a mortuary in the coastal town of Malindi.
His corpse was found in July in the village of Kwa Binzaro, inland from Malindi and near the remote Shakahola Forest, where more than 400 bodies were found in 2023 in one of the worst ever cases of cult-related mass deaths.
Ms Odour is now awaiting the results of DNA tests being carried out on more than 30 recently unearthed bodies.
I felt pain. I barely recognised him. His body was badly decomposing, Ms Odour, 40, said about her husband Samuel Owino Owoyo.
She believes her sons, 12-year-old Daniel and nine-year-old Elijah, travelled with their 45-year-old father to Kwa Binzaro at the end of June.
Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie is currently on trial over the so-called Shakahola Forest Massacre - and has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter.
He is alleged to have told his followers they would get to heaven more quickly if they stopped eating - and there have been concerns he has been in touch with his followers from jail.
Ms Odour says her husband started listening to the teachings of Mr Mackenzie four or five years ago.
He changed and he didn't want the kids to go to school, she said. When the kids would fall ill he'd say that God would heal them. He really believed those teachings.
The change in opinion on formal education and medical interventions caused friction between the couple, who had six children together.
Two months ago on 28 June, the situation took a turn for the worse when her husband went off with their two youngest sons.
He told her he was going to his home village. The last phone call they had ended with him saying, 'We have gone, God be with you.' When she became concerned after he stopped contacting her, Ms Odour soon learned of the devastating reality.
A sequence of searches and investigations led her to a mortuary where her husband’s strangled body was discovered linked to reports from the area.
The search for her sons remains agonizing, with each day amplifying her fear and pain.
Dr. Raymond Omollo from Kenya's Ministry of Interior has announced plans for stricter laws to prevent religious extremism, as communities seek answers and justice following the unsettling revelations from the Shakahola Forest.
As the investigation continues, Ms. Odour grapples with the heartbreaking uncertainty of her children’s fate, questioning the teachings that led to such tragic outcomes.
