QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand — Authorities in Queenstown, New Zealand, and a pair of Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis are scouring the surrounding countryside in the search for Israeli backpacker Liat Tess-Okin.
Rabbis Assisting in New Zealand Search for Missing Israeli Backpacker
QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand — Authorities in Queenstown, New Zealand, and a pair of Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis are scouring the surrounding countryside in the search for Israeli backpacker Liat Tess-Okin.
The 35-year-old, who was last seen wearing a red hoodie with zip-up front, jeans and a backpack, was reported missing by friends five days ago after she failed to contact them a week after setting out on a three-day hike alone.
According to Rabbi Mendel Goldstein, the Canterbury-based director of Chabad-Lubavitch of New Zealand, no foul play is suspected in the disappearance, but investigators are worried because Tess-Okin did not set out with a lot of food. Goldstein and his assistant, Rabbi Oren Raz, flew the hour to Queenstown to assist in the search, and are serving as liaisons to both Tess-Okin’s family and the Israeli government, which does not have an embassy in New Zealand.
“It’s very important that there be people on the ground that can serve as a bridge between the New Zealand authorities here and the family overseas,” said Goldstein. “In a phone call a few hours ago, former Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz told me that he would look into the possibility of offering Israel’s advanced aerial imaging technology to aid in the search effort should it be relevant and approved by the New Zealand government.”
