A Beit Shemesh family is desperately searching for 24-year-old Katriel Nachman Keinan, who has been missing for more than a week after disappearing while traveling in northern Israel, with his father saying he fears his son may have been abducted.

Keinan, a Chabad chossid who previously spent several years in the Philippines before returning to Israel, was reportedly traveling from Beit Shemesh to Tzfas to meet with his Rav for an urgent consultation when contact with him was lost.

His father, Yossi Keinan, filed a missing-person report with Beit Shemesh Police, and extensive searches involving police, volunteers and divers have since been underway.

“I’m afraid someone kidnapped my son. It’s a dangerous area. He didn’t just disappear and stop making contact. Maybe someone kidnapped him,” his father said. “He’s such a good boy that everywhere he goes, there’s light and positive energy. He was on his way to meet his Rav to consult with him.”

Yossi said he last saw his son near the entrance to a shul.

“He told me he was going to see a friend and never came back. I haven’t seen him since,” he said.

According to the family, Nachman subsequently traveled north and reached Tzfas, where he spoke by phone with his Rav at approximately 10:00 p.m. The Rav told Nachman that he was at a hospital due to a family matter but offered to meet him the following morning at 10:00 and arrange a place for him to sleep that night.

Nachman reportedly said he would arrange accommodations himself and planned to meet the Rav the following morning. He never arrived.

“He never heard from him again. I managed to speak to him the next morning, but he said his phone battery was about to die, and then he disappeared. That was it,” Yossi said.

Investigators have been reviewing security-camera footage in an effort to reconstruct Nachman’s movements. Footage obtained from a business in Tiveria reportedly shows him walking in the direction of Hof Gai on the Kinneret.

Search efforts have consequently focused on locations where investigators believe Nachman may have traveled. Divers have also searched portions of the Kinneret, but no trace of him has been found.

“The station commander in Beit Shemesh is constantly in contact with us. He’s helping us and conducting searches with his officers in the field. Divers are also searching the Kinneret. Nobody has found anything. It’s very strange,” Yossi said.

Nachman was last seen on Monday, August 10, at approximately 6:00 p.m. in the Hof Gai area. Police say he is approximately 5-foot-8, with black hair, a beard and brown eyes. He was wearing a white shirt, black suit and hat and was carrying a black backpack and a dark-brown tefillin bag.

His family continues to hold out hope that he will be found alive.

“We are davening and believe that Nachman is alive. We hope the police and the many volunteers will find him. He is the light of our lives.”

Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is urged to immediately contact Israel Police.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)