The belongings of Mali and Liel Yahalomi, a mother and daughter who were traveling together in Europe and who have been missing since last Friday, were not in the apartment they rented, reports said.
The two were scheduled to return to Israel last night on a flight from Prague, but failed to show up for the flight, further increasing concerns for their safety.
Rabbi Reuven Timsit, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in Vienna, told Kan Reshet Bet on Wednesday morning that there is currently no information that could lead to their whereabouts.
"Unfortunately, there is still no lead whatsoever. All the local authorities here are on their feet. It's very, very concerning, especially since they didn't board their flight back to Israel," he said.
Mali and Liel had previously visited Prague and traveled by train to Vienna over the weekend. They were scheduled to board a Tuesday night flight back to Israel from Prague, but never arrived at the airport.
"This is a very concerning turning point, because it means that this situation is truly more complicated," Rabbi Timsit said. "You can't really imagine what happened. After all, we're in Vienna, we're not in some nature reserve. This is the tourism capital of Europe, and yet they haven't been able to find even a phone location, credit card transaction, gas station, or security camera."
The two had planned to attend Friday night dinner at the Chabad House in Vienna but did not arrive. According to Rabbi Timsit, local police are working to locate them, while members of the Chabad House, Israeli travelers, and members of Vienna's Jewish community are also participating in the search.
"The police are really on top of it. The Chabad House has also activated a group of travelers. The local Jewish community is also fully involved. It's beautiful to see, but it's very concerning," he said.
As part of the search, police entered the apartment where the two had been staying. According to Rabbi Timsit, their belongings were no longer there, which may indicate that they had left the apartment and intended to continue their journey.
"There were no longer belongings there. In other words, it would appear that they were already on their way out of Vienna. Europe is open. There are no borders where you have to show a passport to travel from one place to another. That's really what makes this even more concerning. We could be talking right now and searching in Vienna while they're actually in another country where no one is looking for them."
Addressing the possibility that their disappearance may be connected to an antisemitic incident, Rabbi Timsit said there is currently no indication that this is the case.
"Vienna is a very safe place. In terms of antisemitism as well, we have not received unusual notices or warnings requiring us to be on heightened alert."
Amir Rudnik, Mali's brother-in-law, told Kan News that the family's last contact with the two was on Friday afternoon, shortly before sundown.
"On Friday, before Shabbat (the Sabbath), we were messaging with them in the family group. That's it. Since then, we've lost contact. Their last message was, 'We arrived at the apartment, look what a cool apartment, Shabbat shalom everyone.' And that was it. Because Shabbat ended late, we only tried contacting them again on Sunday. By the afternoon, we had already started to worry."
"As time passes, you start thinking about the worst. But right now we're focused on finding them, as well as the crowdfunding campaign we set up in order to finance this saga of searches."