CNN
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The console of Stacy Koester’s black Audi is stashed with objects not present in most automobiles: Blue latex gloves. Allergy drugs. Bandages. Small utility knives.
However she’s not a doctor making home calls. She’s a part of a workforce of ladies in Gillette, Wyoming, who’re devoting a lot of their time on the lookout for clues within the case of a lacking girl they’ve by no means met.
Irene Gakwa was final seen by her household throughout a video name on February 24 and was reported lacking in late March. She was 32 on the time. The Kenyan immigrant lived in Gillette along with her boyfriend, Nathan Hightman, who is taken into account an individual of curiosity in her disappearance. He’s individually charged with 5 felonies for allegedly transferring cash from her checking account, altering her on-line banking password, maxing out her bank card and deleting her electronic mail account after she vanished.
Sporting T-shirts with the phrases, “The place’s Irene?” and “Crew Irene,” the ladies have logged lots of of miles of their automobiles, scouring the huge excessive plains of Campbell County for something which may assist resolve the thriller.
Final weekend, their search included about two dozen folks, 10 horses and ATVs donated by native residents to assist them discover the world from a better vantage level.
An enormous focus of their search is a 55-gallon steel drum that Gillette police say could also be related to the case.
“We imagine that barrel is a key a part of the investigation,” Koester mentioned.
In a Might assertion, Gillette police mentioned they’re “requesting data relating to the potential for a 55-gallon steel drum, which can have been burned and/or deserted inside the county.”
Police have declined to say why they’re in search of particulars concerning the drum or what position it might have performed in Gakwa’s disappearance.
However Gakwa’s oldest brother, Kennedy Wainaina, mentioned Gillette police instructed the household {that a} neighbor reported seeing what gave the impression to be a fireplace burning in a drum in Hightman’s yard between late February and March.
Police instructed them they searched Hightman’s property however didn’t discover the drum, Wainaina instructed CNN.
In an announcement to CNN, Dan Stroup, the lead detective within the case, declined to share further particulars on the drum or Wainaina’s assertion.
“I’m not in a position to present any touch upon the barrel apart from it’s an merchandise of curiosity that we want to study as a part of this investigation,” he mentioned.
CNN has left messages by way of textual content and electronic mail with two neighbors of Hightman’s however has not obtained a response. CNN additionally reached out to Hightman for remark however has not heard again.
Koester and others at the moment are combing the world for the drum, though their search is difficult by the truth that northeastern Wyoming is stuffed with oil and pure gasoline fields, and by default, oil drums. Lots of them are on non-public property that may’t be accessed with out the house owners’ permission.
Investigators have mentioned they’re following numerous leads in Gakwa’s disappearance, together with a cryptic one “indicating that Irene could have been taken to a rural space, mine website or oil and gasoline location … in a passenger automobile or crossover SUV,” in accordance with an announcement launched in April.
Gillette police say they’re in search of data on a grey or silver-colored Subaru Crosstrek with Idaho license plates that will have trespassed on non-public property, presumably in a rural space, between February 24 and March 20.
The automotive is registered to Hightman, Stroup instructed CNN. He declined to supply further particulars.
“That is nonetheless a really lively investigation,” Stroup mentioned. “Please relaxation assured our workforce is working diligently to resolve this case.”
Koester and her search co-organizer, Heidi Kennedy, are on a mission to search out out what occurred to Gakwa.
Born and raised in Kenya, Gakwa moved to Idaho in Might 2019, hoping to launch a profession in well being care. A petite girl, she stood simply over 5 toes tall and weighed about 90 kilos.
She moved to Gillette in the summertime of 2021, however the native volunteers concerned within the search didn’t know her. “She’s a member of our neighborhood,” Kennedy mentioned. “Now we have to maintain trying.”
Gakwa’s two brothers reside in a suburb of Boise, Idaho, whereas her dad and mom are in Kenya. So Koester and Kennedy have assumed management of native, grassroots efforts to search out solutions.
Their efforts have turn out to be a lifeline for a household that’s making an attempt to stay hopeful, but fearing the worst.
“These girls, I’ve no phrases to clarify how they’ve helped our household, ” Wainaina mentioned. “They’ve turn out to be our household in Gillette, they’re our toes on the bottom. They’ve saved us up to date on every thing occurring with the searches. Now we have tried to present them cash to pay for a number of the bills within the search, however they’ve mentioned no.”
Koester and Kennedy have galvanized a bunch of largely native girls for Saturday searches across the Gillette space a number of occasions a month. Typically, a dozen folks present up. Different days, about two dozen. Wainaina and different members of the Kenyan neighborhood in higher Boise generally make the 12-hour drive to affix them.
In current weeks, the searchers have rummaged by trash luggage, peered into rubbish containers, trudged by drainage tunnels and inspected bones from lifeless animals to ensure they’re not human.
“Typically I fear that the one factor we overlook is what could have solutions,” Koester mentioned.
They’ve vowed to show over something suspicious to the Gillette Police Division.
Hightman, 39, has pleaded not responsible to the monetary fees and is scheduled to go on trial in December.
He’s thought-about an individual of curiosity in her disappearance and has “not made himself obtainable to detectives seeking to resolve questions that exist within the investigation,” Gillette police mentioned in an announcement.
‘We imagine he has data pertaining to the disappearance of Irene, however he has elected to not present that data to legislation enforcement presently,” Stroup mentioned.
Hightman instructed investigators he final noticed Gakwa in late February, when she got here dwelling one night time, packed her clothes in two plastic luggage and left in a dark-colored SUV, in accordance with the affidavit of possible trigger. He instructed police he hadn’t heard from her since.
CNN has made repeated makes an attempt to succeed in Hightman by way of cellphone, textual content and electronic mail, however he has not responded.
Koester and different neighbors have gathered outdoors Hightman’s home, holding indicators and chanting, “Nate, the place’s Irene?”
Koester additionally launched a TikTok account devoted to discovering Gakwa and started posting movies in June, urging native residents to affix the search.
Final week, Hightman filed a stalking safety order in opposition to Koester, accusing her of threatening him, sharing his private data within the movies and barraging him with unsolicited texts and cellphone calls.
In his petition, filed in Campbell County Circuit Court docket, he mentioned Koester drove previous his dwelling whereas shouting his identify and has posted his schedule on-line to incite folks in opposition to him.
Koester denied the allegations, saying Hightman is making an attempt to silence her. She mentioned she despatched him a number of textual content messages in July, imploring him to assist them discover Gakwa.
“I don’t care about your felony fees …” Koester wrote in a single textual content she shared with CNN. “Nevertheless Irene is a distinct story … she is simply lacking. Please inform me the place to go looking.”
Hightman didn’t reply to the messages, Koester mentioned.
A decide dismissed Hightman’s petition Thursday, mentioned Joseph Bolton, clerk for the Circuit Court docket in Campbell County.
In the meantime, Kennedy and Koester say they’ll proceed rallying the group of largely Gillette-area girls to maintain up the search.
As moms to daughters themselves, they’ve promised Gakwa’s household that they’ll preserve trying till she’s discovered or there’s a decision in her case.
“We simply need her discovered. We need to carry closure for her household, nonetheless lengthy that takes – I’m hoping it’s not going to take lengthy,” Kennedy mentioned. “It might be considered one of us, our moms, youngsters. Now we have to attempt to discover her or get them solutions.”
Kennedy and Koester have began a bunch message with Gakwa’s household in Idaho and Kenya to maintain them up to date on developments. After months of trying, there’s not a lot new to report. However they are saying they’re not giving up but.
Some days, whereas working errands, the ladies will take a country-road detour as an alternative of a busy avenue, making an attempt to cram in a fast search. Their first few searches have been a chaotic “sizzling mess,” Koester mentioned, however they’ve since realized to be extra organized and centered. Their subsequent search is on September 24.
Koester provides the searchers a bag that features drugs in case of contact with bugs or vegetation they’re allergic to – and knives to chop by any tangled objects. She retains bandages helpful for surprising bruises in tough terrain.
The organizers don’t reveal the search areas beforehand to keep away from any preemptive motion of proof. They use an app to maintain observe of their searches so that they don’t go over the identical space twice.
“I’m not a felony, however I attempt to suppose like one,” Koester mentioned. “If I needed to cover one thing, the place would I put it?”