Dana Rishafi
Israeli missing in Mexico for a month
Young woman traveling in Mexico last seen one month ago, leaving backpack, travel documents behind leads Foreign Ministry, local authorities to launch extensive search
The disappearance of a young Israeli woman in Mexico almost one month ago caused her distressed parents to alert the Foreign Ministry and local authorities in an attempt to locate their daughter.
The last time 25-year-old Dana Rishafi made contact her family was on March 28, via email.
According to information given to her parents, Dror and Danya, the girl was last seen was at a party in the Tulum area on March 31, where she reportedly left her backpack, containing her passport and plane tickets, with a young man named Matthew, most likely an American traveler.
On April 7, over one week later, Matthew sent an email to Dana, asking what he should do with her belongings, since she had not returned to claim them.
After receiving no reply, the young man contacted Dana's family with the same question, and was told to leave her belongings at the reception of the hotel in which he was staying.
"At that point we weren't alarmed. Only two weeks later when we saw that she wasn't checking her emails we began to worry. This is not like her," said Danya.
'A very bad sign'
Dana's parents, who were vacationing in the United States at the time, returned to Israel and turned to the Foreign Ministry for help.The Ministry's division for Israelis abroad immediately contacted local police and sent Israel's consul-general to the area.
The consul-general found Dana's bag in the hotel, with all its contents in place.
"It's very concerning that she has not picked up her bag," said Dana's mother, "it's a very bad sign. We have no idea what happened to her."
Dana's brother, who lives in Spain, left for Mexico to help in the search. The Israeli Foreign Ministry contacted other Israelis in Mexico in hopes that they might help locate the missing girl.
The Ministry also made sure to post the missing girl's picture through local media outlets, and a search for Matthew is also underway, in hopes that he may provide further information.
