A family in Gatwikira Village in Kandara, Murang'a County has been thrown into confusion after kin they presumed dead returned home alive.
Joseph Kiarie, 35, left home about two months ago in search of greener pastures but lost contact with his family a month later.
The family was informed that a person who resembled Kiarie had been attacked and killed by thugs in Nairobi.
Some of the family members proceeded to the city mortuary to identify the body and confirmed it was him while some cast doubt on his identity.
Amid the confusion, the family went ahead to prepare for his funeral and buried him.
His mother Mary Wambui stated that she was convinced that her son was dead because he stopped keeping in touch with them as he used to.
"The person we buried resembled him but due to shock they proceeded to bury him," she said.
Wambui added that she was shocked to receive a call from Kiarie on Tuesday evening.
She narrated that at the time she received the call, she asked Kiarie to return home so that they talk noting that she did not reveal to him what transpired while he was away.
"When he came I confirmed it was him, that was when it hit us that we had buried the wrong person," she said.
On his part, Kiarie noted that after he left home, he went to Githurai where he worked as a porter but he felt this was not giving him enough income.
This made him relocate to Gatura in Gatanga where he has been picking tea on the farms to earn a livelihood.
"I am in shock to come home and find a grave and my family believes am the one they buried," he added.
The matter has been reported to the police and the family will obtain a court order to exhume the body and have it taken back to the morgue.
