Kenyan Man Branson Oduor Found Dead in Baltimore Weeks After Going Missing

The body of 27‑year‑old Branson Oduor was recovered from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor on 7 April, nearly two weeks after he was reported missing.

Oduor had recently moved to the United States to pursue work opportunities and had begun establishing himself professionally. On the night of 4 April, he went out with friends in Fells Point to watch March Madness basketball. Surveillance footage later showed him outside 

The Horse You Came In On bar, where staff escorted him out. Witnesses reported that he declined an offer from a bystander to call an Uber. This was the last confirmed sighting before his disappearance.

Following his disappearance, Oduor’s mother, Millicent, and girlfriend, Emily Costa, joined police and volunteers in the search. Millicent described the ordeal as “shock… it was unbelievable… because it’s very unlike him… he usually calls.” 

Concern increased when Oduor’s electric bicycle was found abandoned five days later. His father travelled from Kenya to Baltimore and faced the family’s worst fear when his son’s body was recovered. Investigators have not yet determined the cause of death.

The loss has affected both local residents and the Kenyan diaspora. In Kenya, news of Oduor’s death has been met with sorrow, highlighting the risks faced by young professionals seeking opportunities abroad.

Oduor’s death follows another recent loss in the Kenyan community in the US. Mohamed Ali Ahmed, a nurse who had recently moved to Illinois, was found unresponsive at home and later pronounced dead at Belleville Memorial Hospital. Ahmed, an alumnus of the Kenya Medical Training College in Embu, had also been starting a new life in the US.