Body found in Lowell canal, suspected to be of Missing Kenyan

By Harrison Maina, AjabuAfrica.com

LOWELL, Mass. MAY 10_A man suspected to be a member of the Kenyan community in Lowell was found dead in a canal in the city of Lowell, Massachusetts.

  According to the Lowell Sun, the man was pulled from Hamilton Canal, located at the base of the old Freudenberg building on Jackson Street, downtown Lowell last Thursday May 6, by the Lowell fire department personnel. The sun reported that it was difficult to identify the race of the dead man as the body appeared to have been in the water for several days.

Many Kenyans in the Lowell area fear that the body could be that of a Kenyan by the name Paul Onyango, aka Pablo, who has been missing for the last couple of weeks, according to reliable sources.

Kenyans who contacted AjabuAfrica.com indicated that Onyango has been a homeless person spending his time near a shelter in downtown Lowell and has been missing for over two weeks. The Lowell police department is yet to establish the identity of the dead person.

The Grace International Church where he has been attending church once in a while was the first to note Onyango’s disappearance.

According to the pastor of the Grace International Church, Rev. Jeremiah Githere, he has been trying to support a Kenyan by the name Paul Onyango cope with life since he saw him entering a homeless shelter holding a brown bag several months ago.

“I decided to take a risk and call the man to establish if he was a Kenyan. Initially, the man resisted coming closer, but when I spoke to him in Kiswahili and identified myself as a Pastor who wanted to help, he responded back in Kiswahili,” said Rev. Githere..
 
Rev Githere said that after inquiring about his situation, Onyango responded with caution and the two started building a relationship slowly over the next several weeks that resulted in Onyango coming to their church for several Sundays,” added Rev. Githere.

The pastor said that together with the church members, they have been trying to help Onyango get interested in making his life better by providing him with food, clothing and encouraged him to look for peopel he could live with as room mates.
 
The pastor had also organized to have Onyango picked up by the church van on its usual Sunday morning run to pick up other church members who do not have transport means.

However, recently, Githere added, over the last couple Sundays, Onyago had not been available at his preferred pick up location, and has therefore not been coming to church,” said Rev.Githere.

“I am devastated by the news of the dead man found in a canal near the shelter,” he added.

A man who has also been helping Onyango get some food to eat was equally devastated.

John Njenga, who operates a transportation business in Lowell, said that he   used to pick up Onyango from his shelter area in Lowell to get him some food and clothes.

Njenga told Ajabu Africa that like many other Kenyans in Lowell, he has been wondering where ‘Pablo’ is until the news came that a man was found dead in Lowell. “I hope this is not Pablo,” said Njenga.

A call to the Lowell police department yielded no new information about the dead man.

“The body has not been positively identified,” said an officer at the Lowell police department. Investigations are continuing.

Anyone with any information as the whereabouts of Paul Onyango ('Pablo') many contact the authorities to help with the investigations.

Click here for original story on the Lowell Sun

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