The body of a missing Massachusetts woman was found Thursday in a car parked in a Logan Airport garage in Boston, authorities said.
Margaret “Maggie” Mbitu was stabbed to death and left in the passenger seat of the car, sources told local CBS affiliate WBZ.
Police have issued an arrest warrant for Mbitu’s boyfriend, 40-year-old Kevin Kangethe, who reportedly left Boston on a flight to Kenya, according to WBZ. Kenyan authorities are working with Massachusetts State Police to find him, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Florida Teen Allegedly Brutally Stabbed, Paralyzed By Ex-Boyfriend Speaks Out)
Warrant of arrest has been issued for Kevin Kang’ethe, a suspect in the murder of Margaret “Maggie” Mbitu of US. Detectives say the suspect boarded a flight at Logan Airport to Kenya from Boston after committing the crime at Logan Int Airport Garage. #CrimeWatch #Solfest #ElNino pic.twitter.com/n0Cbn0Cgat
— Crime & Terrorism Watch Kenya (@CrimeWatch254) November 3, 2023
Mbitu worked for more than ten years as a nurse in group homes in Halifax, Massachusetts, helping the intellectually and developmentally challenged, WBZ reported.
She was last seen leaving her job Monday and was later reported missing by her family, according to the outlet.
“She was warm, caring, and loved by everyone she worked with, both staff and the people she cared for in our group homes. As an agency, we are in mourning over the loss of such an amazing young (woman),” Ulea Grace Lago, the executive vice president of Mbitu’s employer, Brockton Area Multi-Services, Inc. (BAMSI), said in a statement, per WBZ.
Family friend Jane Wambu said Maggie was like a daughter. “It’s just very, very, unfortunate that somebody would choose to do what they have done,” she told WBZ. “It’s definitely such a great loss to the parents, to her relatives, and to the community at large and I would say to the nation.”
“We’re just praying that the Lord may give the family peace and above everything that her culprit, this person may be arrested,” Wambu added, according to the CBS affiliate.
Former FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer says it’s likely that agents at the FBI’s international operations office in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi are already working with local authorities to hunt Kangethe down and extradite him to the U.S., WBZ reported.
“The United States has an extradition treaty with Kenya, so things look very good in terms of Kenyan authorities cooperating,” Coffindaffer said, per the outlet.