A 14-month-old boy named Dylan Muinde was taken from his home in Kangondo Village, Dagoretti, on Monday afternoon. Two women walked up, distracted the older child playing with him, and disappeared into a nearby forest with the toddler. CCTV footage caught them leaving at 2:23 pm on September 7. Dylan has not been found. That is the situation — and it demands more urgency than it is currently getting.
Here is the thesis: this case exposes exactly how vulnerable ordinary Kenyan families are when a crime moves faster than the institutions designed to stop it. The police have footage. The family has witnesses. Yet days later, there is no breakthrough, no suspect in custody, and a mother is left pleading with strangers on the internet for help locating her son.
The mechanics of the abduction are chilling in their simplicity. Dylan’s mother, Cindy Atieno, was inside the house when two women she had never seen before approached. They claimed to be new to the area and asked for directions to a nearby shop. To the older child playing outside, they handed money and sent him on an errand — a classic distraction. By the time Cindy stepped outside, Dylan was gone. Neighbours confirmed they saw two unfamiliar women walking toward the forest with the baby. The entire operation took minutes.
What the CCTV footage shows is damning in its clarity: one woman carrying Dylan, the other walking away with the older child. The images exist. The timeline is documented. And yet the family is now doing the investigative legwork that should belong to detectives, chasing leads and following up at Kabete Police Station because they fear — with good reason — that Dylan may already have been moved far from the area. “Tumekuwa tukifuatilia hii kesi lakini bado hatujapata mtoto,” family member Enock Ratemo said. They are waiting. Dylan cannot afford that wait.
The Stakes Are Personal — and Systemic
Every young Kenyan who grew up in a neighbourhood like Kangondo knows this reality. Communities are tight-knit enough that strangers get noticed, but porous enough that bad actors can exploit a moment of ordinary life — a mother inside, children playing outside, a grandmother offering to buy yoghurt — and turn it into a crisis. The ordinariness of that Monday afternoon is what makes this so devastating.
Child abductions in Kenya rarely get the sustained institutional attention they deserve unless public pressure forces it. That is not cynicism — it is pattern recognition. The family has already signalled they understand this, which is why they are appealing directly to the public rather than waiting on official channels alone. Detectives at Kabete Police Station have also called on the public to come forward with any information identifying the two women or establishing Dylan’s whereabouts. That call deserves amplification — but it also deserves scrutiny. CCTV footage in hand and no arrest yet is a gap that needs answering.
If you have seen these two women, or have any information about Dylan Muinde’s whereabouts, contact Kabete Police Station immediately. A child’s life is not a bureaucratic timeline. The clock has already been running for too long.
