Body of 66-year-old man pulled from Sea of Galilee after search

The body of a 66-year-old man who went missing Saturday in the Sea of Galilee was located by authorities Sunday afternoon, police said.

The remains of Moshe Shamir from Tel Aviv were recovered on the HaOn Beach, on the southeastern tip of the northern Israel lake.

Shamir was spotted by a helicopter search crew and a team of police officers was able to recover his remains from the water.

The body was sent for identification by the family and examination at the Institute for Forensic Medicine, police said.

Shamir had been competing in the annual Sea of Galilee Crossing swimming competition when he disappeared.

His daughter, Yonit Shamir Penso, had posted a call on Facebook asking for help to locate him.

She told the Ynet news site earlier in the day that she could not understand how he went missing during the competition.

“This [swimming] event has been going on for 65 years,” she said. “My father has been swimming in the Sea of Galilee for the past 15 years. He is healthy and athletic and trains a lot.”

The Jordan Valley Regional Council, which organized the competition, issued a statement mourning the death of Shamir.

We were “pained by the death of Moshe Shamir who was found dead this afternoon,” it said. “We accompanied his family for the past 24 hours and hoped for good news every moment, with the intensive search. We are very sorry that the incident ended this way.”

In July, a 21-year-old man, from the Arab city of Arrabeh, drowned in the Sea of Galilee, after entering the freshwater lake on an inflatable raft along with two friends. The three were pulled away from the shore by currents.