Missing British national Campbell Scott, who arrived in Kenya on February 14, 2024 to attend a three-day conference.
A taxi driver and a waiter have been arrested in connection with the murder of British national Campbell Scott as police attempt to find out who may have wanted the 58-year-old dead, and why.
The taxi driver and the waiter are among the last people who saw Campbell Scott alive before he vanished six days ago, and police believe that they hold crucial information that could lead to the Briton’s killers.
On Tuesday, a British High Commission spokesperson said that the UK government is supporting the family of a British man reported missing in Kenya, but declined to give more information.
“I’m afraid all I can say at this stage is that we are supporting the family of a British man reported missing in Kenya and are in contact with the local authorities. We are aware of reports of the discovery of a body and are seeking information from the Kenyan authorities,” the spokesperson said, hours after Makueni County Commander Alice Kimeli confirmed that family members and British High Commission officials had positively identified Scott’s body at Makueni County Referral Mortuary.
The senior director of the London wing of FICO, an American data analytics company specialising in credit rating, walked out of the JW Marriott Hotel in Westlands, Nairobi, on February 16 at around 11.50am, clad in a Scotland rugby jersey, green cargo shorts and red Adidas sneakers.
Scott did not tell his colleagues, Manaton Michael Edward and Jashan Augustine, or JW Marriott staff where he was going.
A photo of a glove discarded at the site where Briton Campbell Scott's body was dumped on the Machakos-Wote highway.
Six days later, a group of herders found Scott’s partly decomposed body in a thicket along the Wote-Machakos highway, nearly 140 kilometres from the hotel in which he was to stay for at least five nights.
He had arrived in Nairobi representing his employer, FICO, in an innovative product launch alongside TransUnion, one of Kenya’s three credit reference bureaus.
On Tuesday, a postmortem will be done to determine the cause of death, as Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers hope that the medical probe will help inch them closer to Scott’s killers.
The body is currently lying at the Makueni County Referral Hospital, pending the postmortem.
Scott’s partly decomposed body, which was found by a group of herders in a thicket in Makongo, Makueni County, has already given some clues to DCI officers.
Crime scene investigators said the body was partly decomposed and had some visible injuries on the hands, indicating that Scott could have been tortured before being killed and his body dumped in the forest.
Police roadblocks
His body was stuffed in a gunny bag which also had pineapples. Investigators believe that the pineapples were intended to help the killers pass themselves off as fruit vendors in the event that they were stopped at police roadblocks.
Other than the marks caused by the nylon rope and the areas damaged by the maggots, his body showed no other signs of wounds or signs of struggle.
Several detectives from the DCI headquarters in Nairobi visited the mortuary on Monday (February 24) and have now taken over the matter from their Makueni counterparts.
Makueni County Police Commander Alice Kimeli told Nation that they had acted on information from local herders who informed them that a body was decaying at Makongo Forest last Saturday and retrieved it.
A photo taken on February 24, 2025, showing a Makongo Forest signpost near the location where the body of Briton Campbell Scott was found.
"We have been handling the matter since we got the information, but it has now been officially moved to the DCI headquarters in Nairobi. They are now better placed to give more information on the matter," she said.
Mr Scott's body is suspected to have been dumped at Makongo Forest for some days since it was maggot-infested by the time it was found. His wrists and ankles bore marks of tightened ropes that were used to tie them.
He arrived in Nairobi on February 15 to prepare for the product launch, which was set to be held at the JW Marriott four days later.
FICO, an American data analytics firm focusing on credit review, has partnered with TransUnion on a product intended to help digital lending firms and banks assess borrowers’ credit risk. The partnership involves merging two products – FICO’s FicoScore and TransUnion’s CreditVision.
CCTV footage shows Scott walking out of the JW Marriott on February 16 at around 11.50am, towards Westlands.
Investigations have since revealed four different locations in Nairobi, Machakos and Makueni Counties, which could offer more leads – Westlands, Pipeline Mlolongo and Makongo.
Scott walked into a bar in Westlands, where he had drinks with a friend.
Unknown destination
He had met the same friend at the same bar the day before he went missing. Police have further established that after meeting with this male friend, the duo left the club shortly after 7pm and boarded a taxi to an unknown destination.
On Sunday, investigators managed to trace the taxi driver who picked Scott and his friend from the Westlands nightclub.
The detectives from the DCI’s Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau intercepted the taxi in Westlands on Sunday.
The driver was placed in custody and is among the people assisting police with investigations.
A photo taken on February 24, 2025 at the location where the body of Briton Campbell Scott was dumped along Machakos-Wote highway
Sources familiar with the investigations told the Nation that the taxi driver led detectives to a house in Pipeline estate, where Scott and the mystery friend are said to have been dropped off after making merry at the Westland bar.
Until Sunday evening, information gathered by the police was that Scott was being held in a house in Pipeline by unknown people.
At the time, the investigators were speculating that the motive for holding Scott at this house was for unknown people to siphon money from his bank accounts.
Scott’s phone was last tracked to Mlolongo, Machakos County on February 16.
After investigators in Nairobi learned of the discovery of a body in Makueni matching Scott’s description on Sunday evening, they notified his family and a colleague in Nairobi of the development.
On Monday, detectives from the Parklands DCI, in the company of some family members and officials from the British High Commission, travelled to Makueni mortuary and identified the body that was recovered from the bushes.
An investigator said the DCI is following two possible leads into the murder.
Having drinks
First is that the mystery friend whom Scott met at the restaurant could be behind the murder, or that Scott could have been lured to his death by a patron at the same bar where he was last seen having drinks.
FICO is one of the world’s biggest players in the credit scoring space, operating branches in 21 other countries in South America, Europe, Oceania, Asia and Africa.
Scott was in charge of ensuring that FICO meets regulatory requirements in the countries the firm operates. He joined FICO in 2014 and had over 20 years’ experience in data management.
He flew in from London alongside Edward. Augustine, based in South Africa, was also in Nairobi as part of the FICO team.
The meeting brought together top officials from the UK, America and select African countries to discuss, among other things, the market for new products.
After checking in at his hotel room at around 1pm on February 15, Scott was seen leaving his hotel room an hour later.
Dressed in short cargo pants and a blue shirt, Scott was relaxed and jovial as he waved at staff at the hotel. Eventually, he is seen walking out of the hotel gates.
After about two hours outside, Scott was again captured on camera walking back to his hotel room.
He looked jovial and after exchanging pleasantries with security guards at the entrance, walked straight into his room.
The following day, Scott was again seen walking out of his hotel room.
A colleague with whom Scott was to attend the conference the following day remained at the hotel.
At around 6pm on February 16, the colleague tried to reach Scott on phone but his mobile phone was switched off.
At around 7pm, Michael tried again to reach Scott but his phone was off. He notified the JW Marriott staff, who advised that Edward report to the police. Edward filed the missing person report that evening.
Additional reporting by Nyaboga Kiage
