JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Two Israeli women who had been reported missing in recent days, Mali and Liel Yahalomi, have been located in South America following an extensive international investigation led by Israeli police and security agencies. The pair were found aboard a bus in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
According to investigators, the women had purchased replacement mobile phones and devised an escape plan motivated by personal financial circumstances. After being questioned by authorities, they were released, as investigators found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
A senior police official said the two women had left Austria of their own free will. “Our representative confirmed that there is no danger to their lives, that they are not under any threat, and that they are free to continue on their journey,” the official stated.
The operation to locate them involved Israel Police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit and the Intelligence Division, which maintained round-the-clock command centers in Israel and abroad. Authorities carried out hundreds of investigative actions in cooperation with Europol and several international law enforcement agencies.
When the women were found, an Israeli police representative in South America boarded the bus and introduced himself, saying, “Hi Mali, hi Liel. I’m Walter, the Israel Police representative in South America, from the Intelligence Division.” He added, “We were very worried about you.”
סוף לתעלומת ההיעלמות שהעסיקה את ישראל בימים האחרונים: מלי יהלומי, בת 50, ובתה ליאל, בת 23, תושבות מודיעין, אותרו כשהן בריאות ושלמות בארגנטינה, כשבוע לאחר שנותק עמן הקשר במהלך שהותן באירופה. השתיים אותרו על אוטובוס בבואנוס איירס בתום מבצע חיפושים נרחב שהתנהל בישראל ובמספר מדינות… pic.twitter.com/5usEKkFwAR
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The last confirmed location of the women’s mobile phones had been near a railway station in Vienna on Saturday morning. Austrian police initially reported there were no indications of criminal activity and later confirmed that the two had left Austria voluntarily. Local media subsequently suggested they had traveled through Germany before continuing to South America.
Following their discovery, the Yahalomi family expressed “immense relief” that the two women had been found alive. The family thanked the public and the various organizations involved in the search efforts and announced that approximately NIS 260,000 (about $75,000) raised through a crowdfunding campaign would be refunded to donors.
The case fueled widespread speculation on social media after an Israeli court imposed a gag order on the investigation. Rumors linked the disappearance to Mali Yahalomi’s position at the retail headquarters of Bank Jerusalem. However, the bank firmly rejected those claims, stating that it had found “no evidence whatsoever of any irregular activity involving the bank’s funds, assets, or customers’ accounts.”