Authorities are searching for at least 16 missing people as investigations into a suspected cult in Binzaro village, Chakama, Kilifi County continue to expand.

The group is believed to include individuals who may have been influenced by radical religious teachings and possibly linked to the Shakahola massacre.

According to detectives, some of the suspects in custody have revealed that the number of victims may be higher than initially thought.

This includes six children reported missing at Siaya Police Station on April 15, four other relatives, and six individuals said to have been indoctrinated with extreme beliefs.

The children's parents are among those currently held by police.

Police are also examining whether the Binzaro group had any connection to Paul Mackenzie, the leader of the Good News International Church, who is accused of causing the deaths of over 400 people through starvation in Shakahola forest.

Mackenzie has been in custody since 2023.

Forensic teams are analysing whether some of the key individuals in the Binzaro case had been in contact with Mackenzie. Investigators believe that the woman who claims ownership of the five-acre compound now being treated as a crime scene may have once been part of Mackenzie’s church.

Early findings suggest that she and her group had difficulty recruiting new followers due to suspicion from locals.

The Interior Ministry, in a statement on Tuesday, confirmed that police had rescued four people and were investigating the suspicious deaths of three others. The rescue followed a public alert about questionable religious activity on the secluded homestead.

“A 50-year-old man who had been reported missing at Siaya Police Station on April 15, his 40-year-old wife, and two females aged 40 and 19, were rescued from the compound,” the ministry stated.

“Preliminary assessments indicate that the individuals may have been held under the influence of radical teachings.”

In nearby thickets, police recovered two human skulls and the body of an unidentified adult male.

The ministry added that the “prime suspect”  whose name was not revealed, was in police custody along with three others identified as managers of the compound.

Three more people were detained over the sale of the land to the main suspect. Authorities are now looking into unresolved questions surrounding the legality of the transaction and ownership documents.

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in Malindi have secured protective custody for the four rescued individuals and are seeking court orders to conduct a full forensic search on the property.

Part of Chakama includes the Shakahola forest, where over 450 bodies were discovered in 2023 in the country’s deadliest cult tragedy. Pastor Paul Mackenzie is accused of leading followers into mass starvation, claiming it was a path to heaven.

In the current case, the couple now in custody had reportedly been rescued during the 2023 Shakahola operation but later disappeared.