A body discovered last week in a warehouse in the Nahlaot neighborhood of Jerusalem has been identified as that of Ruth Abramov, 74, a former producer at Kol Israel.
Abramov had been missing since 2008, and no leads on her whereabouts were found for nearly two decades, despite investigators' assessments that she may have been in the Old City area.
No signs of violence were found on her body, which was transferred to the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine for final identification.
Despite the identification of the body and notification of Abramov’s family, a gag order on details of the investigation remains in place. Investigators are now trying to determine when Abramov died, and how she ended up in the warehouse in Nahlaot, in an effort to piece together one of Jerusalem’s longest-running missing persons cases.
Suspect who found body released after arrest
Earlier today, police released a suspect who had been arrested shortly after the body was discovered on suspicion of involvement in her death. The suspect, an elderly man who owns the warehouse where the body was found, was the one who called emergency services to the scene last Wednesday.
Attorney Gabi Tronishvili, who represents the suspect on behalf of the Public Defender’s Office, said his client maintained his version of events throughout.
“Today, an elderly and innocent man was released after making clear from the very beginning that he was the one who found the deceased and did not cause her death,” Tronishvili said. “We welcome the release, but regret that it took the investigative unit eight days of unnecessary detention to understand that he had no involvement.”