Puzzle of a British Businessman Who Visited a Gay Bar in Nairobi Before Going Missing, Body Found in Makueni After Two Weeks

NAIROBI, Kenya—The mysterious disappearance of Campbell Scott, a 58-year-old British businessman, has taken a grim turn with the discovery of a decomposing body in a forest in Makueni County, over 60 miles southeast of Nairobi.

The body, identified as Scott’s by County Commander Alice Kimeli, was found stuffed in a green sack by herders in the Makongo Forest in Wote on Saturday morning—just days after Scott was reported missing from the upscale Westlands area of Nairobi.

What began as a routine business trip to Kenya has unraveled into a chilling puzzle, with clues pointing to a night out at a gay bar in Nairobi, a taxi ride to one of the city’s sprawling slums, and a gruesome end far from the capital.

Scott, a senior director at the London branch of FICO, an American data analytics giant specializing in credit scoring, arrived in Kenya on Saturday, February 15, for a three-day conference hosted by TransUnion at the JW Marriott Hotel in Westlands.

Westlands, Nairobi.

CCTV footage from the hotel captured the 58-year-old in cargo pants and a blue shirt, appearing relaxed and jovial as he waved to staff and exchanged pleasantries with security personnel that afternoon.

After checking into his room at 1 p.m. and briefly stepping out, he returned at 4 p.m. Colleagues assumed all was well—until the next day.

On Sunday, February 16, Scott left the hotel again at 11:15 a.m., seemingly for a casual stroll to shake off jet lag.

His colleague, Manaton Michael Edward, expected him back for lunch and a meeting to prepare FICO’s presentation for the conference scheduled for Tuesday.

But by 6 p.m., Scott’s UK-registered phone was off. Repeated calls went unanswered, and by 7 p.m., Edward alerted hotel management, who advised filing a missing person report with Parklands police.

Thus began a frantic search for the missing Briton, a search that would stretch nearly two weeks and span two counties.

As detectives from Nairobi and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) dug deeper, a puzzling timeline emerged.

Gay Bar Puzzle

According to the UK publication The Times, citing police sources, Scott is believed to have visited a gay bar in Westlands on Saturday, the day he arrived, and returned to the same establishment on Sunday—the day he vanished. Witnesses confirmed he was last seen leaving the bar and taking a taxi, reportedly headed toward Kibera, Nairobi’s largest slum.

What transpired after that remains shrouded in mystery, but the trail went cold until the shocking discovery in Makueni, 60 miles from Nairobi.

Discovery of Body and Signs of Strangulation

On February 22, herders stumbled upon a decomposing body in a green sack in Makongo Forest, a remote area far removed from the bustling streets of Nairobi.

Nairobi detectives, joined by officials from the UK Embassy, rushed to the scene on Monday to assist in identifying the remains.

County Commander Kimeli confirmed the body was Scott’s, though a post-mortem scheduled for Tuesday at Makueni County Referral Hospital Mortuary is expected to shed light on the cause of death.

Initial reports suggest strangulation, but investigators have yet to confirm this.

The case has gripped both Kenya and the UK, with the DCI enlisting Interpol’s help to access Scott’s call data and piece together his final hours.

The search in Nairobi saw police and hotel staff combing bars and restaurants in Westlands, but no one reported seeing Scott after he left the gay bar on Sunday.

His company, FICO, expressed concern in a statement last week: “FICO is working with our local partners and local authorities to investigate the matter. Our thoughts are with Campbell’s family and friends.”

From a conference in a luxury hotel to a night out in Westlands and a fatal journey to Makueni, Scott’s story has left more questions than answers. How did a British businessman end up dead in a sack in a remote forest? What happened between his taxi ride from the gay bar and the herders’ grisly find two weeks later?