Body found in search for missing woman; police suspect murder

Police said Tuesday they had found a dead body they suspect may be that of a woman who has been missing for two weeks, and that the matter was being treated as a murder investigation.

The body was found in the yard of Ofira Chaim’s home in the central community of Tel Mond.

Due to the condition of the body it was sent for identification at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, police said.

Chaim, 56, a divorced mother with three daughters, was reported missing two weeks ago.

“To the extent that it be confirmed that it is the body of Ofira Chaim, this is a murder investigation,” police said in a statement.

There is a gag order on further details of the case, which reports said will focus on members of her family.

Searchers converged on Chaim’s home and the surrounding area after a situation assessment the day before, police said.

Over the weekend police had said their working assumption was that Chaim was being held against her will.

Chaim worked as a substitute teacher in a local school. Until recently she owned a cafe.

She had told her daughters that she was going to an event in the coastal city of Netanya and would only return early the following morning. Since then, there has been no trace of her, and her car was left parked next to her home.