Moshe Ilovich
Moshe IlovichCourtesy of family

Mike Ben Yaakov, the commander of the Israel Dog Unit, spoke to Arutz Sheva about the disappearance of Moshe Ilovich, 37, a resident of Mevo Modiim who has been missing for nine days, during which his home was burned down.

"On the eve of Shabbat before Lag Ba'Omer, he went out from the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in Meron after Kabbalat Shabbat and the evening and did not get to the place where he stayed," said Ben Yaakov of Ilovitz, a married man and father of children. "The family was supposed to join him In Meron on Sunday, but when his wife called him on Saturday night to finalize their plans, she did not receive an answer."

IDU volunteers searching
IDU volunteers searchingPhoto: IDU

Ben Ya'akov noted that all of Ilovitch's equipment, telephone, tefillin, money and passport remained in the place where he was staying in Meron. "There were hundreds of thousands of people in the area on Lag Ba'Omer, before and after, and not everyone knew about it. The police and the organizations, like ZAKA and others, published the subject, but there were no organized searches, as far as we know, and the family asked us to join the search."

Ban Ya'akov said that there was a special application was used by Israel Dog Unit volunteers who came to the area allowing users to see which areas had already been searched and thereby conduct the search more effectively.

He said that there is no reason to give up hope despite the extreme heat wave which struck the country last week. "Sometimes a person has a source of water. Sometimes he does not want to meet with people. Sometimes he does not know where he is. Sometimes the weather affects him. Sometimes there are caves where the missing person can be found. There is always hope."