Concern for missing Israelis Mali Yahalomi, 50, and her daughter Liel, 23, intensified Wednesday after the two failed to board their scheduled flight from Prague back to Israel, while overnight searches in Vienna produced no breakthrough.
The two have been missing since Friday, when they last contacted relatives from Vienna. Authorities are continuing to examine all possibilities, and fears for their safety are growing. The Shin Bet and Mossad are not currently involved in the investigation, but a senior Israeli police officer who also works with Europol has been dispatched to Vienna to assist the search.
Mali and Liel Yahalomi
(Photo: Israel Embassy in Vienna)
Mali and Liel began their trip in Prague on August 4 and traveled to Vienna, where they sent their family a video on Friday, August 7, from the apartment where they were staying. The apartment was later found empty. The two are experienced travelers and normally remain in regular contact with relatives, making the sudden loss of communication highly unusual.
Phone-location data reviewed by police in Israel and Austria indicates that the two, who observe Shabbat, were last seen during Saturday in the area of a Vienna train station and a nearby public park. The information provides investigators with one of the few concrete leads since contact with them was lost.
Their relatives filed a missing-person report Sunday at the Modi’in police station, which transferred the case to the Israel Police foreign affairs unit and activated contacts with Austrian authorities. Family members said Mali and Liel had spoken with them Friday before Shabbat and appeared completely fine, but did not respond to messages after Shabbat ended.
“The situation obviously isn’t very good,” Mali’s brother Moshe said Wednesday morning. “We spoke with them for the last time on Friday, and they were completely fine. They said they were in an apartment in Vienna and that everything was okay. They didn’t share their plans with us beyond that.”
The two had also ordered a meal from the Chabad House in Vienna but never arrived to collect it.
“At the moment there is nothing new from the investigation,” Moshe said. “We are in contact with the consulates in Vienna and Prague and with the Modi’in police, and they will update us if there is anything new.”
An Israeli official said authorities and other organizations were making extensive efforts to locate the pair.
“The whole world is on its feet trying to find them,” the official said. “Various parties are involved. They can’t be found anywhere. It doesn’t smell good, but we hope they will be found safe and well.”
Despite the expanding search, local Austrian media has so far given the disappearance little attention beyond publication of the Israeli Embassy’s missing-person notice.
At the family’s request, the Israeli search and rescue company Magnus has joined efforts to locate the two. The family has also launched a crowdfunding campaign to help cover mounting search expenses, including local professional assistance, transportation, translation, logistics and other emergency costs.
“Mali and Liel are experienced in traveling abroad, know how to manage on their own and normally update the family group or remain in contact with their mother and grandmother,” the family wrote on the fundraising page. “The sudden and unusual loss of contact is deeply worrying.”
The family added that resources were needed to expand and accelerate searches in Vienna.
“Every hour matters,” they wrote.