GILLETTE, Wyo. — It was through a WhatsApp video call that her family last saw 32-year-old Irene Gakwa, who went missing from Gillette, Wyoming in late February.
Gakwa was last seen in the video call with her parents on Feb. 24, the Gillette Police Department said.
Gakwa's family reported her missing in March, less than three years after she left Kenya for the United States, according to CNN.
During the February video call, CNN reports, Gakwa's parents were not aware that she lived in Gillette with a man she had apparently met on a Craigslist forum.
Gakwa's family only learned that she was living with the man, identified as Nathan Hightman, 39, after her siblings reviewed her phone records. Gakwa shared a family cell phone plan with her brothers.
According to CNN, Hightman told police he hadn't heard from Gakwa since he last saw her in late February, when, he told police, she came home one night, packed her clothing in two plastic bags and left in a dark-colored SUV.
Hightman also told police he withdrew money from her bank account so she would be forced to contact him if she needed money, CNN reports.
Police said Gakwa "went missing under suspicious circumstances."
Since the time she was reported missing, police said, detectives have interviewed her friends and associates and have executed approximately 24 search warrants in an effort to find her.
GPD said digital evidence, including location data, is also being analyzed and has provided positive leads.
Hightman is considered a person of interest in her disappearance and has "not made himself available to detectives looking to resolve questions that exist in the investigation," Gillette police said.
According to CNN, Hightman has not been charged in Gakwa's disappearance but is a suspect in financial crimes against her after she went missing.
Gakwa's family and friends have launched the website whereisirene.com to help find her. Her family has also visited Gillette, where they checked morgues and hospitals.
Some residents of Gillette have rallied to find Gakwa, wearing T-shirts that read "Where's Irene?" while hosting search parties on weekends and posting missing person posters in neighborhoods.
"No family should ever have to go to bed at night wondering where their loved one is," Stacy Koester, who lives in Gillette and has been organizing searches with a group of local women since April, told CNN.
Gawka, the youngest of three children and the only girl, is described by her loved ones as independent but family oriented.
"Irene has always been quiet and enjoyed her independence," the website reads. "She is very close with her parents, and has always taken good care of them. Family has always been number one priority for the Gakwa family, and Irene held this value true for us."
GPD asks anyone who has information related to Gakwa's disappearance to contact the Gillette Police Department at 307-682-5155.
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