The body of a 56-year-old man was discovered in his Rishon Lezion apartment on Wednesday night - roughly two years after he was first reported missing.
The man, who lived alone, is believed to have died around that time, with no one noticing his absence for months.
The discovery was made after a call was placed to the ZAKA 1220 emergency hotline, alerting authorities to a decomposed body in an apartment on Mishmar Hayarden Street. When police arrived at the scene, they found the skeletal remains of the deceased.
Volunteers from ZAKA’s Shephelah region responded to the scene to handle the body and document the remains.
'A particularly unusual case'
Yaakov Lieberman, spokesman for ZAKA’s Unit 360, described the incident as “a particularly unusual case that we have not encountered in a long time.”
“Neighbors reported that after not seeing the deceased for several months, serious concerns arose about his fate, and he was found in a state of loss of consciousness,” Lieberman said. “The unit's volunteers are currently working with immense dedication at the shocking scene to treat the deceased with dignity."
ZAKA spokesperson Moti Bookchin said this was part of a disturbing trend.
“This is a real national disaster. Just earlier today, ZAKA volunteers from the Northern District treated a body in a state of decomposition in Acre, and now in Rishon Lezion—this is the sixth case in a week,” he said.
“We must not pass over these shocking cases as the agenda. We must stop and look around us, check with the lonely neighbor. A phone call or a single knock on the door once a day can save a life.”