Missing Israeli Mother and Daughter Detained in Namibia with Forged Passports
Mali and Liel Yahalomi, who mysteriously vanished from Vienna earlier in August, have been detained in Namibia with forged passports. Police confirmed the disappearance was planned in advance for personal reasons.
Mali and Liel Yahalomi, whose disappearance sparked widespread concern in Israel, were recently detained in Namibia on suspicion of possessing forged passports. Israeli authorities expect the police to be asked to join the investigation.
To recap, Mali (50) and Liel (23), residents of the Modiin area, flew to Prague on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, and continued to Vienna, where they rented an apartment. Contact with them was lost on Friday, August 7. Their phones were tracked on Saturday morning near a railway station in Vienna, and when police entered the apartment, their belongings were gone.
The Israeli embassy in Vienna issued a public appeal for assistance on August 11. The investigation was transferred to the Lahav 433 unit under the instructions of the Police Commissioner, and the family raised funds to finance the search. The affair triggered rumors on social media, including alleged ties to Bank Jerusalem, causing the bank's stock to drop by about 12% before the bank denied any unusual activity.
On August 14, a week after their disappearance, the mother and daughter were located on an intercity bus heading to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in an operation conducted by the Israel Police Intelligence Division with local police assistance. They were reported safe and sound, and were released after questioning, with authorities confirming no suspicion of terrorism or wrongdoing, and that they had cut contact voluntarily.
According to police sources, the disappearance was planned in advance. The two traveled from Vienna to Germany and then to South America, purchased replacement phones without presenting passports, deleted tracking applications, and withdrew funds prior to the trip. In a correspondence between them, Liel wrote to her mother, "I will go with you anywhere." A senior police official stated, "Mali simply wanted to disappear from the world." Upon their detention, the two stated the circumstances were "personal" and refused to elaborate.
