Last update - 00:00 05/08/2007
Tel Aviv Police locate boy reported missing since Thursday
By Roni Singer-Heruti, Haaretz Correspondent
Police on Saturday night located a 16-year-old boy who was reported missing on Thursday and was suspected of being kidnapped by Arabs from East Jerusalem.
The boy was spotted by police eating in a restaurant on Allenby Street in Tel Aviv in no apparent danger, and fears of his kidnapping were subsequently dismissed.
Last Thursday evening, the boy's mother called police and reported that her son had left their home in Bnei Brak several hours earlier to visit friends in Rishon Letzion and had not been heard from since. The mother stated that when she called her son's cell phone a voice answered speaking Arabic, leading to fears that the boy had been kidnapped.
In response to the mother's testimony, Police opened kidnapping response procedures, organizing a special situation room in coordination with agents from the Shin Bet security service.
Fears of kidnapping heightened after a pinpoint search of the cell phone's location revealed that it was in East Jerusalem.
After the youth was located on Saturday, he told police that he left home on Thursday to spend time at the beach in Tel Aviv with friends. He stated that at some point he handed his phone to an Arab youth, who did not return it to him.