US woman's body found in Jerusalem-Beit Shemesh area

Police launch homicide investigation, still unsure of motive; 2nd woman alerts police after escaping attackers with hands bound, stab wounds.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, YAAKOV LAPPIN, JUDY SIEGEL
kristine luken 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
kristine luken 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
The body of Kristine Luken, who went missing in the Beit Shemesh-Jerusalem area, was found early Sunday morning after police and IDF searched all Saturday night, fearing she had been kidnapped in a nationalistically motivated incident.
Police were continuing to investigate the homicide and stabbing incident. Kristine Luken, who held an American passport, was found south of Mata, approximately 400 meters from the road between Mata and Beit Shemesh, police said.
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Several hundred people took part in a massive search overnight Saturday for Luken, which included units made up of rescue dogs, army combat units, police helicopters, mounted police, and several hundred police officers. After the body was found, police remained at the scene of the crime for an additional three hours, combing the area for any information.
“We are still looking at all directions, still continuing the investigation, and questioning people who may have seen them,” said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. He said that the police were trying to determine if this was a nationalistically-motivated terrorist attack or a random act of violence.
“There have been no claims by [terrorist] organization organizations,” Rosenfeld told the Post on Sunday afternoon. He added that the investigation was a two-pronged approach between police and intelligence organizations to try to determine the motive of the attack. On Sunday, patrols made up of border police, police officers, and units that specialize in rural areas are continuing to sweep the area.
“The English tourist [Susan Kay Wilson, a tour guide from Givat Zeev] had her hands tied up [and was] stabbed pretty bad in the upper part of her body,” Rosenfeld said. “The obvious intention [was] to have her killed. This was not something where they were just trying to take her purse. It was a serious crime scene. We’re talking about two women walking around Jerusalem forest, we’re not even talking about Judea and Samaria.”
The security level had not been raised in the Jerusalem area as of Sunday afternoon. Rosenfeld said the police were waiting for “concrete answers” before updating security procedures or implementing road blocks going in or out of the territories.
Wilson, 46, a tour guide, made aliya from Great Britain in 1991, and lives in Givat Ze'ev.
Her stab wounds were superficial and she did not lose a lot of blood, according to a spokesman at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem. She suffered moderate-to-light injuries, and was treated in the trauma unit.
The spokesman refused to give any more details, saying the case was in police hands, and declined to let doctors speak to the press.
Kay remained conscious on the way to the hospital, Magen David Adom paramedics said.
Melanie Lidman contributed to this report