Mally and Liel Yehalomi, the Israeli women who went missing in Austria, were booked on an El Al flight today (Tuesday) from Prague to Tel Aviv departing at 10:15 p.m., but didn’t show up for the flight. They haven’t contacted family members since last Friday. Israel’s Foreign Ministry is asking the public to contact their confidential tip line with any information +43–676–367–2304.
1+At this stage there’s no lead on why they disappeared. It appears that attempts to locate their cell phones have failed, and no transactions on their credit cards have been detected since they vanished.
Vienna’s Jewish community, where the two were last seen, launched a major search operation starting this morning. Rabbi Reuven Timsit, a Chabad emissary in the city, told C14: “We have no direction at this stage. The community has mobilized—local Jews and also Israeli tourists who are here to search for them. The two are Shabbat observant but didn’t register for Shabbat meals at Chabad or at any of the kosher hotels in the city, and we’re praying they’ll be found safe and sound.”
1+As time passes, the search mission is becoming more complex for obvious reasons. One is the fact that Vienna is a major European hub from which you can reach neighboring countries like Germany, Hungary and Slovakia with a short drive, without passing through border controls.
Earlier today Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a public appeal requesting any information on the two women’s whereabouts. The announcement, shared by Israel’s embassy in Vienna, was posted on social media. Austrian police told C14 that for privacy reasons they’re prevented from providing information about the case.