Police in Georgia, USA, are investigating the circumstances that led to the death of a 17-year-old Kenyan teenager, Yaron Kathuri whose body was found near Douglasville’s Arbour Place mall.
Speaking to 11Alive, a media outlet in Douglasville, Kathuri’s parents noted that their son exhibited signs of depression in the days leading to his disappearance on September 27.
His body was found in a reservoir on Saturday, October 22, more than a week after he had gone missing.
His mother, Vera Kathuri, told the outlet that she had comforted him before he disappeared by reassuring him that his family loved him.
Yaron had raised concerns about feeling like a burden to his family.
On the day of the disappearance, the teenager had left the house for school but never made it to the institution.
Instead, he had gone to the mall’s parking lot where he called his family who constantly pleaded with him to return home which he never did.
“I told him, ‘God has a plan for your life and he always has a good plan for you.’ I woke him up at seven the next morning and I prayed with him and held his hands, and prayed with him. And then he got ready to go to school.
“He said he feels like he’s a burden to us and I told him, ‘No, Yaron, you’re not a burden. You are a good child and we want to help you.’ And he kept saying, ‘I’m sorry.’ And then he was crying. So we kept trying to get him to just come home, telling him it’s okay. And the phone went silent after that. And that was the last conversation,” stated Vera.
Soon after, the family reported him as a missing person and the frantic search to find him kicked off without any success.
On Saturday, however, his father Andrew Kathuri was informed that a body believed to be that of Yaron had been recovered near the mall.
He was scheduled to graduate from college in May 2023 but started experiencing anxiety roughly before joining his senior year at Chapel Hill High School.
He reportedly Google searched about anxiety symptoms and his family had assured him that they would provide him help.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE