On December 20, 2019, Josephine Cynthia Onche was declared missing by her family, just days before her scheduled wedding. Josephine, a 45-year-old officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, was preparing to marry her fiancé, Christopher Akpan. The wedding had been fixed for December 29. According to reports, Josephine had travelled to meet Akpan shortly before her disappearance. She was expected to return home, but she never did. Her family initially tried to contact her and later reported her disappearance to the police. As investigators began looking into the case, attention turned to Akpan, who was reportedly the last person known to have been with her. Akpan was eventually arrested and maintained that he had nothing to do with Josephine’s disappearance. He told investigators and journalists that he had been in Akwa Ibom and had remained there after Josephine left. But investigators continued tracing Josephine’s final movements. Her last known communication reportedly led them to the residence of a native doctor, Afolabi Akin Rafiu, in Adum, Obi Local Government Area of Benue State. By the time investigators began searching for him, the native doctor had reportedly left the area. He was eventually arrested in Ogun State. During interrogation, Afolabi allegedly told investigators that Josephine had been brought to him by Akpan as part of a plan to use her for a money ritual. He alleged that on the night of December 19, 2019, Akpan brought Josephine into a forest and told her that they were going there for a ritual. According to Afolabi’s account, Josephine was asked to kneel down for prayers. He then alleged that Akpan produced a gun and shot her in the head. Afolabi further claimed that Josephine’s blood was collected in a calabash before the two men buried her body in a shallow grave. The allegations led police back to a forest in Adum on May 27, 2021 — approximately 18 months after Josephine disappeared. There, investigators reportedly discovered human remains buried in a shallow grave. The remains were identified as those of Josephine Cynthia Onche. Akpan continued to deny the allegations against him, insisting that he loved Josephine and had been preparing for their wedding. He also denied contracting the native doctor to carry out a ritual and rejected the allegation that he was responsible for Josephine’s death. The case therefore rested on conflicting accounts: Akpan’s continued denial, and the allegations made by the native doctor who led investigators to the location where Josephine’s remains were found. What began as the disappearance of a woman preparing for her wedding had, 18 months later, become a m#rder investigation involving her fiancé, a native doctor, and a shallow grave in a Benue forest. Josephine Cynthia Onche never made it to her wedding day.