Police in the US state of Minnesota have found the body of a 26-year-old Kenyan man who went missing more than two weeks ago.
Keegan Oyugi’s body was found in a crashed vehicle on Highway 13 in Savage, Minnesota, on Tuesday, the Minnetrista Police Department said.
Police confirmed that a car found off Highway 101 in Savage belonged to Mr Oyugi. They said a body in the driver’s seat and his description matched that of Oyugi, down to the clothing he was believed to be wearing when he went missing.
“As we await formal identification from the medical examiner’s office, our thoughts and prayers go out to the Oyugi family,” the police department said.
“The family has met with Minnetrista Police Department and BCA and they have confirmed that the car found today was Keegan’s car and Keegan was identified as the only occupant in the car,” announced Find Keegan Oyugi, a Facebook page set up to find the man.
The family also revealed that a formal identification was yet to take place.
“The Hennepin medical examiner’s office has taken over for official identification. We request at this time you continue to PRAY for the Oyugi family and ASK FOR PRIVACY for the family — this is a really difficult and sad time for them, so let’s keep that in mind and allow them some space and time,” the statement said.
“We will continue to update the community with the next steps as they become available. This forum will stay on for now. Thank you everyone and let’s continue to uplift Richard, Miriam, Reegan and the entire Oyugi family. Minnesota Kenyan Association in partnership with Minnesota United.”
Mr Oyugi, a former Kenya Ports Authority basketball player, was last seen in the Prior Lake-Savage area.
Friends said he sent a text message to his brother saying he was heading home early that Saturday morning from that area but never made it.
After his disappearance, a search was organised in Chaska, a midway point between Prior Lake and his home in St Bonifacius, where family members say his cell phone last pinged, the African community newspaper Mshale reported.
Mr Oyugi graduated from Wichita Southeast High School and went on to play basketball at Neosho County Community College in Kansas.
His parents, Richard and Mirriam Onkunya, live in Wichita, Kansas.
He worked in the community near Crown College, where he graduated two years ago. He was a star basketball player at the college and was reportedly planning to play professionally in Kenya later this summer.
The case remains under investigation.
