The body of Shani Gabay, a 38-year-old Israeli woman who had been missing since the beginning of the month, was found in the northern part of the country on Thursday morning, police said.
The mayor of the woman’s hometown of Beit Shemesh in central Israel said it was “bitter news” and that her family had been informed.
It was not immediately clear how Gabay had died or how her body had been found. She was last seen in the coastal city of Hadera on June 1.
A massive search had been underway since her disappearance. Security forces had searched the surrounding area of Beit Shemesh for days, as family and friends distributed flyers and circulated her photograph online in a bid to find her.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday night directed security forces to focus on the search for Gabay, who had a 1-year-old daughter.
The mayor of Beit Shemesh, Moshe Abutbul, said in a statement on Thursday that “it is with a heavy heart that I’m sharing the bitter news that [Shani’s] body was found this morning. I share in the pain of the family, that after days of uncertainty they now know the fate met by their beloved daughter and sister.”
