2 Israelis murdered in Mexico City

ZAKA representative in Mexican capital says clear signs of violence found on bodies of 24-year-old woman, her 60-year-old father

Aviel Magnezi |Published: 10.17.10 , 12:57

Two Israelis, a 24-year-old woman and her 60-year-old father were murdered by gunshots in their apartment in Mexico City over the weekend, according to ZAKA representatives in the Mexico capital, who said marks of serious violence were found in the bodies.

The victims were identified as Sapir Aruch and her father Moshe, 60.

Moshe's other daughter, Ortal, worked as an undercover police officer in Israel and helped incriminate 29 drug dealers. The family said the murders in Mexico had nothing to do with Ortal's police work.

According to ZAKA, the Israeli Embassy in Mexico City received the police announcement and has yet to release details on the identity of the two victims, whose bodies were turned over to the city's Forensic Medicine Institute.

"The apartment was a mess and appeared to have been the scene of a struggle," a ZAKA representative, who arrived at the apartment with police investigators, told Ynet.

A 12-year-old relative of the victims arrived at the apartment at 3 pm Friday but could not get in because the door was locked. She knocked on the door for a long time but got no answer. For an unknown reason, the police were only dispatched to the place on Saturday evening and broke into the flat.

"First we saw the young woman's body. Her father's body was lying in another room," the ZAKA representative recalled.

He added that the Forensic Medicine Institute in Mexico City was expected to deliver the autopsy report, which would shed light on the cause of the death, later in the day. The police investigation is ongoing.