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Police Find Body of Missing N.J. Yeshiva Student

Israeli police rule out criminality in death of 23-year-old last seen hiking

by
Stephanie Butnick
August 28, 2014
Jerusalem forest. (Wikimedia)
Jerusalem forest. (Wikimedia)

Israeli police have found the body of Aaron Sofer, a hiker missing since Friday, Reuters reports. The 23-year-old yeshiva student from Lakewood, N.J. was hiking with a friend in the Jerusalem forest when the two lost contact, and the friend reported him missing soon after.

Police don’t suspect a criminal motive in Sofer’s death.

“Following a forensic examination, the body … was identified as that of missing person Aaron Sofer. Tests showed that no criminal act was committed and the body will be transferred to the family in the coming hours,” a police spokeswoman said.



No details on the condition of the body or possible clues surrounding the circumstances of the death were revealed.

Sofer’s parents, who flew from New Jersey to Israel to help with the search, yesterday issued a tearful video offering a 100,000 shekel reward (just under $30,000) for information leading to his return.

Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.