At least 33 bodies — including children and dismembered remains stuffed in sacks — were unearthed from a mass grave in western Kenya on Thursday, raising questions about whether the corpses were secretly moved from a hospital morgue.

Detectives exhumed the remains of 25 children and eight adults, as well as dismembered body parts packed in gunny sacks, from a mass grave at a church-owned cemetery in Kericho, authorities said.

"We were able to establish that these were bodies transferred from Nyamira District Hospital to a private cemetery in Kericho," Mohamed Amin, who leads the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, told reporters.

He said detectives are seeking to determine whether the bodies were legally disposed of after being removed from a morgue.

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The Associated Press reported that Kenyan law allows hospitals and morgues to dispose of unclaimed bodies after 14 days with court authorization.

Government pathologists conducted autopsies Thursday to determine the cause of death, though the identities of the victims have not been released.

Authorities have arrested two people in connection with the case.

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Local media reported the bodies were transported in a government vehicle by unidentified individuals and buried hastily, with some gravediggers later alerting police.

"We need authorities to conduct a thorough investigation," resident Brian Kibunja said.

Another resident, Samuel Moso, said authorities should "reveal if the government was involved or if a different group of people was behind the mass burial."

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There have been three major mass-grave incidents in Kenya over the past three years.

Police in 2023 uncovered hundreds of bodies buried in a forest in Kenya’s coastal Kilifi region, exhuming mass graves tied to a religious leader accused of starving his followers to death.

In 2024, authorities recovered nine bodies from a dumpsite in Nairobi, the Eastern African nation's capital.

The latest discovery comes as concerns grow among some Kenyans over alleged abuses by police.

Missing Voices, a human rights group, said it documented 125 extrajudicial killings and six enforced disappearances in Kenya over the past year, compared to 104 reported killings the year before.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Two foster children who had been living with a convicted transgender triple killer, despite authorities being aware of the situation since late December 2025, are no longer residing with the violent criminal, according to local media reports.

Reginald Arthurell — who began transitioning to a woman shortly after his release from prison in 2020 — was removed from the home after heavily armed officers raided the address on Monday, radio station 2GB reported. He had been living with a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old for several months, the outlet said. 

The minister for Families and Communities of New South Wales (NSW) on Tuesday issued an apology, saying the situation "should never have been allowed."  

"It is entirely unacceptable for a vulnerable child in the care of the state to be living with a triple murderer," Kate Washington told 2GB. "It should never have happened and I'm deeply apologetic for what has happened."

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She added that "very poor decisions were made" at the time when authorities became aware of the situation and said a review is underway to determine how the "terrible" circumstances were allowed to happen, promising systemic changes.

The situation has sparked widespread backlash and calls for the resignation of authorities who allowed the crisis to continue for months. 

Late last year, Arthurell moved into an existing foster home in Sydney, where two children were already living under the care of an elderly woman, 2GB reported. He reportedly met her while she was working at a hospital, and he was a patient there.

The woman, who invited him to move in as a housemate, already had two foster children living with her under her approved placement with the New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice.

Arthurell therefore shared the household with the children. The arrangement went unnoticed by authorities until the carer’s daughter reportedly raised concerns late last year.

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Prior to moving in, Arthurell had built a long criminal history, primarily involving the killings of three people over three decades, court documents show. He was first convicted of manslaughter in 1974 for reportedly stabbing his stepfather to death in Sydney. In 1981, he fatally bashed a 19-year-old sailor during a violent robbery, and while on parole in 1995, he killed his fiancée by beating her to death with a piece of wood, local outlets reported.

After killing his romantic partner, he was caught photographing himself wearing one of her dresses, 2GB added.

All three killings involved alcohol, court documents show. Records indicate that Arthurell spent nearly 39 years of his life in custody following the murders.

After his prison release in November 2020, Arthurell began transitioning into a woman under the name Regina. The first public photos and self-introductions appeared on a transgender community Facebook page in May 2021, 2GB reported. Arthurell had also expressed plans to undergo gender-affirming surgery "as soon as possible," News.com.au reported.

Court documents also described that "her transition has been taking place over quite some years," confirming the process was ongoing after his release.

Arthurell now remains in private accommodation following his Monday removal, ABC Australia reported Tuesday.