Diary of a Missing Person – The Lost Jews of Israel – Igor
Vareby, still at large
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| IDU poster with photo of Igoir Vareby - please help circulate online and offline |
The gas station where we set up camp, near the place where we had
found Meir Levy
I write this summary of the log of our search for Igor
Vareby from the Yovel Delek Gas Station on Moshe Dayan Street that sits on the
border of Bat Yam and Holon, Israel. This gas station is a nostalgic one for
The I.D.U. Israel Dog Unit. It was near here two years ago where we found Meir
Levy’s body a week after he was murdered by Erez Shmeil, a professional soccer
player with Beitar-Jaffa. Meir Levy was a well-known philanthropic money-changer
who had loaned 300,000 shekels to Shmeil. Shmeil was convicted of shooting Levy
to death and then chucking his body several hundred yards south of this gas
station, hidden under a plank in a vacant lot. It was a miracle that we found Levy. Had we listened to the police,
Levy’s body most likely would never have been recovered.
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| Meir Levy |
The cops were wrong again, and no riches, but at least some pizza
for the hungry volunteers
The police tried to dissuade us from searching the area that
they had supposedly searched thoroughly prior. That did not stop the cops from taking credit
for the find. What else is new? That’s all history now. Levy’s nephew promised
to sponsor our dog in a huge way. I still remember his promise: “Never Again will you guys drive around in these jalopies." We still have the same old cars, but at least he did buy the volunteers pizza
and fill up the cars with gas after we helped find his uncle Meir. This was particularly
appreciated, at the time, in view of the fact that the guys were famished and we did not have money to fuel the cars up to get back to
Tapuach that night.
The gas station owner should be commended – for letting us
turn his place into our base of operations
Now, we return again to the area to search for Igor Vareby.
Moe-mie, the gas station owner is kind enough to let us set up our Command
Center here. We found a nice shady spot for our van and mobile-mini-kennel
right across from the table I sit at which has a convenient umbrella to shade
the computer and maps, and a socket to plug our electrical gadgets into. And
let’s not forget restrooms and other conveniences that we often lack at our
make-shift search-command-centers. Moe-mie was thrilled to partake in the mitzvah-good deed of helping us with the search by providing table, chair and parking space for
our big van and kennel-wagon. He asked if we could find him a retired service
dog that he could adopt. I promised Moe-mie that we would have him in mind when we pass on
our next retired dog. I took Moe-mie’s number and gave him my card. I
have a feeling we might need to call him not only to give him a dog that’s
ready for pension, and not only to use his gas station as a base of operations
on this search for Igor Vareby. Something tells me that the little jungle
behind his gas station might be a place where we will need to search for others
in the future.
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| HaYovel Delek Gas Station - where we set up camp - May 29 |
We widen the search
It is now 7 PM, Sunday May 29
th L'minyanam. I am
waiting for our two search teams to return. Aryeh and Akiva are
searching with "Milo", a very sharp cadaver dog. (At the time I thought
they were with Milo, I later learned that they thought the terrain could be
covered fine without a dog). There are large areas behind the gas station in
the direction of Rishon LTziyon, with a swamp, trees and all kinds of rough
brush and terrain. Israel is a unique land to search in. Urban searches turn
into forest-like terrain in a matter of meters. Right behind a train station
and a highway you can find a mini-jungle. The area is approximately 1000-1500
yards away from Eli Cohen Street where Igor’s home is.
Ephraim L is searching another area by bike within
1000 yard radius of Igor’s home, looking for any building sites or abandoned
homes where Igor could be. Ephraim L recently finished his army service. I don’t
know what we would do without Ephraim. He drives the truck to most searches. He
is a talented and skilled navigator. Without Ephraim we would probably end up
spending most of our time searching for our own volunteers, who would likely get lost
themselves while searching for our missing people. In fact, I am embarrassed to
admit that Ephraim led such a rescue team to find me and a few others, a few
weeks back when we ended up losing our way in the Northern Shomron, in the
Henanit Forest while looking for a jogger who got lost, near an Arab
village. Nes, the tracking dog helped track me down when Ephraim L and Paul gave him
my spare pair of shoes that were left behind in the car. At least we now know Nes, the tracking
dog that we recently imported from Holland indeed tracks well. She led them right to Louis,
myself and the clueless cop that joined us on that search.
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| Receiving an award from the Haifa police for finding a missing person there. |
Igor Vareby and Eli Cohen Street
Igor Vareby left his house Thursday May 19
th at 5
AM and was never seen again. He left his cellular phone, wallet, cash, car keys
and a letter on his kitchen table. Igor was 47 when he left his elderly
mother in their shared apartment on Eli Cohen Street in Bat Yam. Eli Cohen is more than just
a street in every town in Israel. Eli Cohen was a legendary and heroic Israeli
spy. Ironically Eli Cohen's name was mentioned in the media yesterday, as news surfaced about allegations
that Israel was holding an Iranian general kidnapped 30 years ago in Lebanon.
Some reports claimed that Israel was currently holding behind-the-scenes
negotiations to exchange the old, Iranian general with Eli Cohen’s body
believed to be held by Syria. Eli Cohen would also be the name of one of the cops
who almost arrested Ephraim L - one of our searchers on this search - more on
that debacle, later. It seems that not
only streets in Israel are named after Eli Cohen but many people are also named
after this national hero. One of our noble volunteers searching for
Igor of Eli Cohen Street, would soon be detained by Eli Cohen, the cop. Eli
Cohen, the spy, not the cop, was a famous Israeli spy who had penetrated the
highest echelons of the Syrian government and military. His cover was blown and he was killed by the Syrians. Cohen's body was never recovered, despite Israel’s efforts.
Now we are trying our best to recover Igor’s body and the last place we know he
was seen was on Eli Cohen Street.
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| Eli Cohen, caught spying for Israel in Damascus |
I am sorry to say it – but the police seemed to have messed
this one up miserably
Had the police or the family phoned us that morning when
Igor went missing, we likely could have tracked the initial direction that Igor
walked in with our newly trained tracking dogs. Unfortunately we were not
called in until four days later. And even then, police blunders led us to turn
around after the cops erroneously reported that our Igor had been found. They
mistook him for another missing person.
Valuable days were lost in the search that should have been
for Igor. Police waited days before they declared Igor to be a missing person
in high risk. This case should have sounded an immediate mental-alarm at police
headquarters. Igor, 47, had a serious argument with his brother the night
before he went missing. The argument was “about money” that Igor owed to his
brother Slava. Igor left his documents, passport, wallet, money and phone on
his kitchen table. He also left his brother a letter apologizing for all of the
sorrow that he had caused him and stating that his brother would no longer have
to worry about him causing any more problems. At 5 AM Igor sent a text message to his 2
daughters, writing how much he loved them. He then sent another message to his
brother Slava, again reiterating how sorry he was. He placed the phone on the
table and left, never to be seen again. As we later would learn when meeting
Igor’s landlord, the day before he disappeared he left a post-dated check for
2915 shekels to cover past monies owed and next month’s rent.
Important background information is learned piece by piece
I asked Slova, Igor’s brother if he had any relatives buried
in the nearby cemetery, which is always a good place to search. Often people
contemplating suicide first visit a loved one’s grave and start their journey
from that spot. They are often found dead or injured overlooking the grave of a
loved one. Let us remember, many people leave in a fit of rage with intent to
harm themselves, but if given the opportunity they calm down and hesitate to
make that final step of suicide. Often enough people can be found and saved to
yet live long and happy lives. However, sometimes in their rage and anger they
can find themselves deep in a wooded area, injured, dehydrated etc..How many nooses
around necks have we found, with the obvious signs that the person tried to
fight off his own suicide. We had a case in Ashdod where you can see the hands between the noose and the neck
with the person unsuccessfully trying to fight his way free. Many suicide victims have second thoughts.
It is our job to find these missing people as quickly as we
can. In many cases we have found the people when it was already too late. This, too, is a great mitzvah-good deed to at least recover the body while the body is still whole. Slovic
replied, “Come to think of it our dad is buried in Russia, He died at the young
age of 47. Igor is the same age now. In
fact dad’s birthday was May 22. Igor had
said that he would likely die the same age as dad, and that he would likely be
dead by dad’s birthdate.” Igor disappeared 3 days prior to his dad’s birthday. This
was being told to me Wednesday May 25th. It became clear to me that we are
looking for someone who planned to never again return home again. Even if he was only
injured in the wild, or in a nearby deserted building or near a local swamp, he
would have had little chance surviving through the extremely hot days that
followed his disappearance. How long could he last without water? Perhaps 2
days in that intense heat. We started the search with cadaver dogs 6 days after
Igor had disappeared.
It is neglected cases like this when we at I.D.U. are most
needed
It is frustrating to know that it is possible that Igor could
have been found alive or effectively tracked had we known about the case
earlier. However, it gets more frustrating. We initially learned about the case
on Monday, 4-5 days after he went missing. The police published an ad on the official police website asking
for the public to help locate him. We were unsuccessful in reaching the investigator in
charge of the search, or the number published on the police ad. There was no active search as far as we could tell. I had
no idea where to start. I called the police and many contacts in the police and
IDF, to no avail. Nobody was home. Despite the lack of information I felt that
this was a case we had to work on. It seemed nobody else cared and that this
case had fallen between the chairs, a Russian immigrant without much family and no political connections, coupled by police laziness or incompetency, or both. On Tuesday I decided
to go to Eli Cohen Street to seek out potential family members. I had no clue
where to start.
Man plans and G-d laughs.
Tuesday we got called elsewhere. Tuesday May 24th,
the Jerusalem police called us to the capital to help search for Abir, a teen who
went missing and whose phone indicated that he was in a nearby forest. Abir,
the missing teen could more likely be found alive. We went to look for Abir in
Jerusalem, with intent to continue on to Holon-Bat Yam to look for Igor if and
when Abir would be found. In the meantime perhaps we could yet hear back from the
Bat Yam police and get some clues regarding Igor Vareby. In the end, the
Jerusalem teen was found in Tel Aviv. Tuesday afternoon after hearing
of Abir being found, we started off for Holon-Bat Yam to finally commence the
search for Igor, only to be told that he, too, had already been found alive and
well. Great news, we thought. We can now head home to Tapuach and get some
well-needed rest. Early Wednesday morning, May 25th I learned that the police
had made a grave mistake. The missing person they found was not Igor, but
another missing person. Wednesday morning we set off to search for Igor. Where
do we start?
Where do we start?
We arrived at Eli Cohen 2, searching for the name Varebi on
the mail boxes. We put together a nice team to search for him. Ephraim L came
with me from Tapuach with an impressive fleet of dogs. Aryeh, a righteous and
well-seasoned dog handler who is currently serving in the IDF gets 4 days off
every 21 days. He is currently stationed on the Gaza border, and joined us
directly from the front. He begins his 4 day vacation by jumping into the
thick of the search in Bat Yam. Not only that, he recruited Rachamim, one of
his army buddies, who is also on leave and who lives nearby to join in the
search. Edan, another young volunteer linked to Barel, a jeep brigade that helps look
for missing people also joined us, as did Yair Maimon - the head of Barel, later
in the day. And Gideon, Arye’s dad, the “pilot” of our drone who heads our
branch in Sde Bar joined us with the drone, to help cover open areas nearby.
Gideon's son Shimon, flying the drone on a training exercise.
Dov, a retired fellow who is well versed in the area at hand and who has a
well-needed 4x4 jeep, also, later joined us.
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| Eden posing with "Jill" |
Eli Cohen Street number 2 has three buildings and entrances.
Each of the buildings stands 4-5 floors high with a total of 8-10 apartments in
each building. None of them have a mail box that reads Varebi. The phone number
we received from the Israeli information operator did not seem to reach anyone
either. The police had yet to respond to my many inquiries. I saw the name Rebi
on one mail box. We dashed up the stairs. Maybe Rebi was Varebi. Maybe the
police made a mistake. Perhaps part of the name was cut off of the mail box. A
woman answers the door. I ask, “Varebi?” I show the woman the picture. She says tensely, “I know nothing. If he lives anywhere it would be upstairs. Maybe I saw him on
the stairwell once. Maybe I gave him his mail once.” It was obvious that she
knew exactly who we were talking about. He had lived in the apartment one floor
above her for the last 7 years. She was clearly not telling the truth. She
assumed we were police and she, is no doubt, one of those people that does not
want to get involved. Fair enough. We head up to the top apartments and found
Igor’s mom Tamila. Tamila, an elderly woman spoke no Hebrew and just wept
crying for Igor. I called Ephraim K, a Russian speaker currently designing a
special application to help manage searches. He could help translate. Tamila
put us in touch with Igor’s brother Slovic. Slovic was not of much help at this
stage, however, he did tell us a bit about Igor’s profile, the trigger for the
disappearance, as well as a good spot to start our search- an open area with trees where he could be
hiding or where he could have harmed himself, off the beaten track – nearby,
not frequented by many people. This was the only area known to Slova where Igor
would meditate and walk his dog that he once had. That was the first area we
searched.
Back Again – 10 days after Igor disappeared – Still no clues
Here we are again searching for Igor. It is now Sunday May
29. It is 8 PM the guys are back at the command center in the gas station and
we covered important ground today, but we have yet to recover the body.
Tomorrow is another day. If we are not called out for something urgent, we may
continue back here to cover more ground and hopefully to recover Igor’s
body to bring him to a Jewish burial and to bring closure to his family. If we
do not search for him, I fear that nobody else will. In a matter of days his
body might be eaten by wild animals, G-d forbid.
The Keystone cops almost arrest one of our volunteers.
Ironically Ephraim L almost got arrested today searching in
a huge abandoned building. No less than 5 policemen converged upon him. “What
are you doing here? We have no report of a missing person.” Keystone cops
indeed. Ephraim in his broken Hebrew urged the cops to call me. I cleared it
all up. To think how many cops they have to engage in a false arrest. Yet no
cops to look for this poor soul or to have started the search when he still
could have been found alive. The police are the ones who are legally
responsible to lead the searches for missing people, according to Israeli law. No search. Not even to
have a photo of this current missing person in the patrol cars? Sad and
shameful.
Join us -
If you wish to get involved with the Israel Dog Unit as a
volunteer or as a sponsor, feel free to email me at
guzofskyyekutiel@gmail.com
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| At a police command center in a recent search near Tiberias |
Some volunteers dorm in our facilities in Tapuach and spend
part of their time working or studying. Some of our volunteers join us before,
during and after their army service. Some volunteers come weekly for training
or for search missions. We also run a defense program where we breed, train and
provide dogs to help protect “settlements”. Never a dull moment with the Israel
Dog Unit. A most meaningful tour of duty in the battle to rescue Jews in Israel.
We always need good volunteers and we always need financial help to sponsor the
dogs, the training, the volunteers, and the searches.
I can be reached in Israel 0544876709
or on my U.S. phone number: 917475 0789
Donations can be sent to "Maginei Eretz L'Maan Hazulat" POBox 6592 Jerusalem Israel.
