The heartbroken mother of a missing Melbourne musician has revealed how she spent 72 agonising days searching for her son after police failed to locate him, despite having access to mobile phone tracking technology.
A Mother's Instinct Proved Right
Benine Manirakiza knew in her heart that her son Eimable was no longer alive when volunteers finally found his backpack containing his mobile phone more than two months after he disappeared. The 24-year-old soul singer's body was discovered in a river just five minutes from his mother's home, where he had fled during what his family believes was a mental health crisis.
"I never knew it would be very difficult," Benine says of her ten-week search for her missing son. As a migrant from Burundi with English as her second language, she found communicating with police particularly challenging during her time of crisis.
Technical Breakthrough After Police Inaction
The breakthrough came when cybersecurity expert Mike Monnik, who had volunteered to help the family, sent a missing device recovery alert to Eimable's phone. Two teenagers canoeing along a river in Melbourne's west spotted the backpack containing the phone and contacted Monnik directly.
This crucial clue led Monnik and Eimable's brother, Bien, to discover the young musician's body in the water the following day. The discovery came more than seven weeks after police had finally disclosed details about where Eimable's phone had last pinged to family liaison Kendra Keller.
Family Questions Police Response
The Manirakiza family's lawyer, Naty-Guerrero-Diaz, says the upcoming coronial inquest will investigate whether Victoria Police should have attempted to access Eimable's phone location data in the first critical days after his disappearance on 23 June 2021.
At the time of Eimable's disappearance, police could apply under the Commonwealth Telecommunications Act to access telecommunications data if they believed there was a "serious and imminent" threat to life. The "imminent" qualifier has since been removed following recommendations from a New South Wales coroner.
Benine describes volunteer Mike Monnik as an "angel" and wishes the family had connected with him earlier. She believes without his technical expertise, her son "could still be rotting in that water by himself".
As she prepares for the inquest, Benine holds onto tender memories of her son. "I remember his laughter, his gentle touch, his beautiful words," she says, hoping the investigation will help prevent similar trauma for other families of the more than 50,000 Australians reported missing each year.
