Police searching for missing soldier in Ashkelon
Officers say young man, missing since Wednesday, has a history of going AWOL; no kidnapping suspected
Ashkelon Police said late Thursday they have launched a search for an IDF soldier who went missing the day before.
The soldier serves at an IDF logistics base in the Mishmar Hanegev region in the northern Negev desert. He has not been seen since Wednesday morning, when he left his home for his base.
According to police, the soldier’s mother arrived at an Ashkelon police station Thursday afternoon and told officers her son was missing. She said he had complained that he felt unwell and was going to see an army doctor.
Police are treating the case as a likely incident of an AWOL soldier, and do not suspect a kidnapping. The soldier in question, authorities said, has a history of disappearing from his army base without leave.
Investigators are said to be searching the homes of the soldier’s known friends, according to a report in the Maariv daily.