Four Years Gone, Family Fears the Worst for Missing Gillette Nursing Student Irene Gakwa

It has been four years since Irene Gakwa, a Kenyan nursing student, vanished from the Gillette home she shared with her boyfriend Nathan Hightman in February 2022. Her family, who once spoke with her daily, now fears she is dead.

Hightman, now 42, remains a person of interest in her disappearance but has never been charged. He did, however, serve prison time for draining Gakwa’s bank account of nearly $7,000, maxing out her credit card, and deleting her email account after she vanished. His excuse to police: he was holding her money hostage to force her to contact him.

He was paroled in spring 2025 and now lives in Cheyenne.

Gakwa’s disappearance followed a familiar pattern of coercive control, her family says. The 32-year-old had been isolated from friends and family. Her brothers in Idaho didn’t even know she’d moved to Wyoming.

On Feb. 24, 2022, she video-called her parents in Kenya. After that, communication shifted to text messages—only in English, not her usual mix of Swahili and English. By March 9, all contact stopped.

Police say Hightman’s behavior raised immediate red flags. He claimed Gakwa left willingly with a man named “Marco” she met online. But cell phone data showed her phone pinged a tower two weeks after she supposedly left. Her Gmail account was accessed from Hightman’s IP address until mid-March.

Neighbors reported seeing Hightman—typically a “homebody”—burning something in his backyard after Gakwa’s disappearance. He bought a shovel, waterproof boots and work pants the day after she was last seen. The shovel was later found with “grime and possibly burnt material” on the blade.

His phone location data showed unusual travel to rural and industrial areas—a stark change for a man who rarely left home. Police searched for a 55-gallon barrel in those areas but never found it.

Gakwa’s brother, Kennedy Wainaina, said the family just wants closure. “It would mean the world to us to finally have closure, so we can start healing,” he said.

Gillette Police Interim Chief Brent Wasson said the case remains active. “We truly want to give the family answers and believe it’s possible.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Gillette Police Department.