Overview
- The Israel Police located Mali and Liel Yahalomi on a bus in Buenos Aires and confirmed they were alive, with authorities publicly announcing the outcome on Friday.
- Investigators led by Lahav 433 and the Police Intelligence Division worked with Europol and foreign police to reconstruct the route from Vienna through Germany to Argentina using phone geolocation, surveillance footage, bank withdrawals and travel records.
- Police say the evidence points to a deliberate, premeditated departure: the women bought replacement phones, deleted data, made large cash withdrawals and, investigators report, consulted an AI chatbot about moving without being tracked.
- After in-person verification that there was no sign of abduction or criminal activity, investigators closed the criminal inquiry, did not detain the women and allowed them to continue their journey.
- The case remained partly under a court gag order; the family expressed relief, Bank of Jerusalem said its review found no irregularities, and organizers said crowdfunding donations for search efforts will be refunded.