Police said Friday evening that after extensive efforts in Israel and abroad, Mali and Liel Yahalomi were located in South America.
"Israel Police, in cooperation with all security agencies and relevant authorities in Israel and abroad, has worked in recent days in an extensive and focused effort to locate the missing women," police said. In a video released by police, the two are seen being identified aboard a bus in Buenos Aires.
Mali and Liel identified on the bus
(Video: Israel Police)
After questioning, the two were released because there was no suspicion of a criminal offense. A police official said, "The two left of their own free will. The police representative verified that their lives were not in danger, that they were not under threat and that they could continue on their way."
"Hi Mali, hi Liel. I'm Walter, the police representative in South America, OK? From the Israel Police Intelligence Division," the officer who boarded the bus told them. "I want to ask you a few questions. We were very worried about you, OK? I'm going to get everyone off the bus and then we'll talk, OK?"
Police representative upon locating Mali and Liel Yahalomi: 'We were very worried about you'
(Photo: Israel Police)
Police officials told ynet that "the intelligence was obtained by Lahav 433. The indication was received a few hours ago."
In its statement, police said that at the direction of Police Commissioner Danny Levy, Lahav 433 and the Police Intelligence Division operated command centers in Israel and abroad around the clock, allocating all necessary resources and carrying out hundreds of investigative actions to locate the women.
Police added that after extensive efforts and cooperation among all the agencies involved, including Europol and other police organizations abroad, the missing women were located. Israel Police thanked all authorities in Israel and overseas for their cooperation and assistance in the search.
Earlier Friday evening, police officials said investigators had managed to fill in more parts of the women's movements and narrow gaps regarding what they had done and where they had been during the relevant period.
After reports in local media, Austrian police said in an official statement that the two had left the country on their own and that there was no indication of a violent crime. Earlier, Kronen Zeitung reported that they had traveled to Germany and from there, according to unconfirmed reports, reached South America.
The last time Mali and Liel's cellphones were located was Saturday morning near a train station in Vienna. The station is about 2 kilometers, or 1.2 miles, from the apartment where the two were staying. Vienna police said at the time there was no suspicion of a criminal incident.
On Wednesday, a gag order was imposed on the investigation into the disappearance. The order said the case was being handled by Lahav 433's National Unit for Combating Economic Crime, known by its Hebrew acronym YALAC.
The police request for the gag order triggered a wave of rumors on social media linking the disappearance to Mali's work at Bank of Jerusalem's retail banking headquarters. The rumors sent the bank's shares down more than 12%, though the losses later moderated.
Bank of Jerusalem quickly said that "no findings have been identified indicating any unusual activity involving the bank's funds, assets or customer funds" and that "there is no concern of any embezzlement of customers' money."