Missing Man Returns Home After 47 Years With The Help Of Facebook

The social media platform Facebook helped reunite a man with his family in Kenya. 70-year-old James Mwaura had been missing for years. The man ended up finding his family on Facebook and was eventually reunited with them.

At the age of 23, Mwaura had stepped out of his home to buy rice for his family in 1974. He claims that he got lost while running the errand. He somehow ended up in Nairobi instead of being able to return home.

According to Citizen Digital, the man was a resident of Molo town in Nakuru County. It is unclear how he managed to leave his hometown and reach the national capital around 104 miles away. Mwaura claims when he realized he was in Nairobi, he searched for his brothers. Unable to locate his brothers he concluded that they had moved away from the city.

Mwaura did not have any money to return home. He managed to hitchhike to Naro Moru town in Nyeri County. He eventually found work and settled down in the new town. He also married a local woman and started his own family. He and his wife had three children and four grandchildren.

The elderly man was on Facebook when he saw a man whose face seemed familiar. He reached out to the man by messaging him on the platform. He heard back from the stranger who turned out to be his nephew. The septuagenarian was able to reestablish contact with his family after 47 years.

Ghbase reported that Mwaura met with his nephew on Wednesday, July 21. After meeting his nephew, he met the rest of his family on Thursday, July 22.

While Mwaura’s reunion with his family had a happy ending, the apparent return of a train crash victim landed his family in trouble. Amritava Chowdhury’s was named as a victim of the 2010 Jnaneswari Express crash in India.

The DNA of an unidentifiable body matched that of Amritava. His family received Rs. 400,000 ($5,392) compensation. His sister was also given a job with the Indian railways as a part of the compensation.

However, an investigation following a tipoff uncovered that Amritava was alive and well. The man’s father, Mihir Kumar Chowdhury, told authorities that their dead son had returned in 2017. The family did not inform the Indian railways of the mistake. The man and his family remain under investigation.