Mysterious disappearance of Israeli mother, daughter baffles Austrian police

Fears mounting for Israeli woman and her daughter who vanished without a trace five days ago during vacation to Europe.

By World Israel News Staff

Concern is mounting over an Israeli mother and daughter who have been missing in Austria since Friday, with relatives saying their abrupt disappearance is completely out of character and search teams still lacking a clear lead as of Wednesday morning.

Mali Yahalomi, 50, and her daughter Liel, 23, lost contact with their family on Friday, August 7, shortly after arriving in Vienna during a trip through Europe.

Israel’s embassy in Austria has issued a public appeal for information, while Austrian authorities, members of Vienna’s Jewish community and relatives have joined efforts to locate them.

According to Israel Hayom, neither the Mossad nor the Shin Bet had formally entered the investigation as of Wednesday morning. Austrian police and other local security authorities were involved, while Israel’s Foreign Ministry was assisting through its diplomatic mission.

The women began their trip in Prague before traveling by train to Vienna on Friday.

They reached an apartment they had rented through Booking.com and sent relatives a video showing that they had arrived safely and were pleased with the accommodation.

Their final contact with relatives came at approximately 5:45 pm Friday, when they exchanged messages and photographs in the family WhatsApp group before the start of Shabbat.

A relative, Moshe Yahalomi, said their final message was simply: “They said Shabbat Shalom. Since then, we haven’t heard from them.”

Because both women observe Shabbat, relatives were initially not alarmed when they stopped responding Friday evening and Saturday.

Concern grew on Sunday when Shabbat had long since ended and messages to their phones still went unanswered.

Family members said WhatsApp messages showed only a single check mark, indicating they had not reached the women’s devices.

The mystery deepened Tuesday night when Mali and Liel failed to appear for their scheduled return flight to Israel from Prague.

The family had held out hope that they might unexpectedly arrive at the airport despite several days without communication, but they never boarded the flight.

Mali’s brother-in-law, Ami Rudnik, told Israel’s public broadcaster Kan on Wednesday that nothing about the disappearance fit their normal behavior.

“This isn’t the first time they’ve traveled together,” he said, adding that they normally remain in regular contact with relatives while abroad. He described the prolonged silence as completely uncharacteristic.

The two are experienced travelers, according to their relatives, and previously spent more than a month together in the United States without incident.

Vienna Chabad emissary Rabbi Reuven Timsit said there was still “absolutely no lead” explaining what happened to them despite an expanding search.

Timsit said investigators initially considered whether the religiously observant tourists might have visited the local Chabad center.

More than 400 travelers had registered for Shabbat meals there that weekend, but neither woman appeared on the registration lists or on the center’s security cameras.

The Chabad center has since become one of the hubs of the community search, with notices distributed through WhatsApp groups and local Jewish residents and business owners asked to report any possible sightings.

One businessman told organizers he believed he may have seen the women and passed that information to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Timsit said.

Search notices and photographs of Mali and Liel have also spread rapidly across social media, with Israeli accounts urging people in Austria and neighboring countries to share the appeal. Israel’s embassy has similarly asked the public to circulate photographs of the pair.

The Israeli embassy said anyone with information should contact Austrian police or its emergency hotline.

Austrian police told Germany’s Jüdische Allgemeine that privacy regulations prevented them from discussing the specific investigation, while noting that police generally begin investigating immediately once a missing-person report is filed.

There has so far been no publicly confirmed indication that the disappearance was terrorism-related or motivated by the women’s Israeli nationality.

But officials and relatives have also not identified an alternative explanation.

Timsit noted that Vienna is generally considered a safe and highly monitored European capital, making the absence of any clear trace particularly unsettling.

He also pointed to the difficulty created by Europe’s open borders: someone leaving Austria by road could quickly reach Slovakia, Hungary or other neighboring countries without encountering a routine passport check.

“We don’t know whether this is a criminal incident, nationalist [attack], a family matter, or something else,” Timsit said. “There isn’t a single lead.”

The family has now launched a crowdfunding campaign to expand the search in Austria. Israel Hayom reported Wednesday that the campaign has set a target of NIS 300,000 and had raised approximately NIS 80,000 by the time of publication.