Dj Vnyash
The news that Jane Hato, the missing midfielder for Police Bullets FC, had been found safe and out of danger brought relief to her family, teammates, and the public, who had been overwhelmed with anxiety.
Hato, the U20 Rising Starlets captain, left her home on Wednesday night to meet her team at the GSU headquarters on Thika Road at 7:30 pm, before proceeding to Police Sacco Stadium and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for their flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. However, she went missing and her phone was silent, leaving her family and teammates anxious and puzzled.
The team’s flight to Addis Ababa was scheduled for 2:00 am, necessitating early travel arrangements by the Police Bullets management to ensure timely arrival at JKIA for the Champions League zonal qualification match.
After her disappearance, her mother, Ann Aluoch, who is also the coach for Mathare United Women and the Starlets U20 team, took to social media to ask for public assistance in locating her.
Police FC CEO Superintendent Chris Oguso responded to the public’s concerns, urging calm while the investigation continued. Oguso assured that they were treating the situation seriously and viewed it as a missing person case. “It is disturbing that she has not been seen till now, but we are sure she is alive wherever she is,” Oguso said around 9:30 pm on Wednesday.
Approximately 24 hours later, around 8 pm, Hato was found safe and reunited with her family in Juja, Kiambu County. Preliminary investigations indicated her location was at Gachororo Health Centre in Juja.
In an interview with Citizen, Oguso suggested that Hato might have been with someone she knew and that the matter was being treated as a family issue before a full report could be provided.
Hato had recently joined Police Bullets FC from Mathare United Women FC and was among the key players recruited to strengthen the team for the CAF Champions League Zone Five qualifiers.
Mathare United Women confirmed Hato’s safety and requested privacy for her family while they looked into the circumstances of her disappearance. There were rumors about Hato potentially striking a deal with a club in the USA, with some family members allegedly wanting her to skip the flight to Ethiopia, but this remained unverified.
Football Kenya Federation, which had earlier called for information on Hato’s whereabouts, also confirmed her safe return.
This incident echoes previous mysterious disappearances in Kenyan football, such as KCB goalkeeper Brian Olang’o, who vanished in March 2024 and was later found in Ngong forest after being abducted and beaten, and Halima Tadicha of Kangemi Ladies, who disappeared in April 2023 after a match but was eventually located after an extensive search.
It remains uncertain whether Hato will join the team in Ethiopia, with Police CEO Chris Oguso expected to provide an update later.
