Sivan Lavi
Sivan LaviIsrael Police

The body of a woman found at a construction site on Yigal Alon Street in Tel Aviv Sunday morning is almost definitely that of a bereaved Givatayim mother who went missing Saturday morning, police say.

Sivan Lavi, 46, disappeared over the weekend after her 12-year old son was found dead under mysterious circumstances last Thursday in a burnt-out apartment. Lavi was found lightly injured.

The two had returned to the apartment after it had been damaged in a fire, and had spent the day cleaning and repairing it. The two then retired to their rooms in the apartment. Authorities suspect that Lavi’s son was killed after breathing in air contaminated by poisonous materials released into the air by the fire, though the exact cause of death has yet to be established.

After she went missing, friends and relatives of Lavi feared she might take her own life, prompting searches for her across the Tel Aviv-area.

On Sunday morning a body matching her description was found, though the remains must be examined by forensic experts to verify that it is Sivan Lavi.

Zahava, a friend of Lavi’s mother, suggested that the death of her son could have pushed Lavi to take her own life.

“It’s hard to imagine yourself in her situation; she lost her whole world,” Zahava told Army Radio.