Posted on 08/02/2003 1:44:57 PM PDT by yonif
Widespread searches were carried out over the weekend for 18-year-old Dana Bennet from Tiberias who went missing in the early hours of Friday morning after finishing a late-night waitress shift at a restaurant in the city.
Hundreds of police and volunteers, including horsesriders and owners of jeeps and all terrain vehicles (ATV), took part in the searches on Saturday that were focused on an area between Moshav Migdal and the Maghrar intersection, north of Tiberias.
Senior officers, headed by Norther Region police chief, Commander Ya'acov Borovsky held a meeting at the Zvulun station in Kiryat Haim on Saturday evening to assess the situation and decide on future steps.
Bennet's disappearance comes amid ongoing general warnings about the possibility of attempts by terrorists to abduct Israelis for bargaining purposes and follows the recent kidnapping and murder of Cpl. Oleg Shaikhet, 20, of Upper Nazareth.
Chief Supt. Doron Cohen, commander of the Tiberias police station, from where inquiries into Bennet's disappearance and the search operations are being coordinated told reporters that all aspects are being examined.
"At the moment we don't have any specific line of inquiry. All the directions are being investigated. The moment we have a further picture we might be able to advance in certain direction," Cohen told reporters on Saturday.
"We don't have any findings at the moment that can help us advance the investigation. We are looking for anything that might help," he said.
Police have not ruled out the possibility that Bennet might have gone away of her own accord, although such an action does not fit the character of someone whom family and friends described as being a very responsible girl.
Her mother, Vicky Bennet, told reporters over the weekend that Dana would have called from her mobile phone if she had made any last-minute change of plans.
"She's got a cell phone and she would call me even if it was late and I was asleep and even if I got angry with her about it. The fact she didn't call me makes me think she has been kidnapped," said Vicky Bennet. She noted that the cell phone had since been disconnected.
Dana Bennet had worked on Thursday night at a restaurant on the Tiberias promenade overlooking Lake Kinneret and finished after midnight. She took a taxi with another waitress, Shiran Koriya, towards her uncle's home in Tiberias where she had been due to spend the night.
"About 1:15 am we got to a bridge where there is a bus stop and Dana got off there and I carried on and usual and that was that," Koriya told reporters.
The spot where Bennet alighted from the taxi is only a short distance away from her uncle's home. She did not arrive and on Friday morning the family contacted the police and reported her missing.
Searches began in Tiberias on Friday and were later expanded to the area between Migdal and the Maghrar junction after reports that she may have been sighted around there in the early hours of Friday morning.
A police helicopter scoured the open terrain in the area from above, while over 100 police and police volunteers and over 120 civilians combed the ground for any traces of the missing teenager, but to no avail.
Bennet is described as being nearly 1.7 meters tall, with long brown curly hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a white T-shirt and light blue jeans.
Police are asking anyone with any information about the missing girl to contact their local station or call the Tiberias station on 04-6728444.
Given the hour, the passenger. . .the 'times'; the danger. . .why would the driver of the taxi or the girl herself not make the decision to be dropped off in front of the Uncle's home where she was going?
Find this cavalier approach to late-night commuting more than strange. . .
Hate to think of what might of happened to her; but maybe she will be found safe; surely hope so.
. . .well I have no doubts about the peacefulness of the Jews; but must admit I am surprised by the feeling of safety just walking around the city at night or in the a.m.;
. . . but only because of the element of danger that has become less a threat, and more a reality for so many Jews.
Seems like 'Arab instigated' usually occurs in the busier times of the day (more victims, no doubt) but wasn't a taxi driver taken (and released, I think)just recently?
In any event, taking a taxi should be safer in the implied door-to-door; too bad this was not the case; or. . .perhaps there was an unhappy persuer who knew her schedule and it would not have mattered. . .
"Funny, according to the democraps there should be rioting in the streets, but like the true days of the wild west, when every body has a gun, you hear sir and mam a whole lot more."
The truth about legal, gun-carrying. . .surely puts the argument 'for' guns and not against.
I went to school with Donna for 5 years. This is a truly sad event that had to happen. If you knew Donna in person, you would know that she was a kind, smart, well mannered, happy girl who always had a smile on her face, with good grades and good intentions. She was the kind of person that would always cheer you up if you were feeling down, she always though good of everyone and she was loved by all her friends. My prayers go out to Donna's family and all of her friends and teachers and all the people who knew her well .We are praying for you Donna and hope you will come home safe and sound.
I went to school with Dana for 5 years. This is a truly sad event that had to happen. If you knew Dana in person, you would know that she was a kind, smart, well mannered, happy girl who always had a smile on her face, with good grades and good intentions. She was the kind of person that would always cheer you up if you were feeling down, she always though good of everyone and she was loved by all her friends. My prayers go out to Dana's family and all of her friends and teachers and all the people who knew her well .We are praying for you Dana and hope you will come home safe and sound.
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