Authorities in the Philippines discovered the bodies of Yitzhak Cohen and his partner, Geneva Lopez, on Saturday morning in the town of Capas, Tarlac province, after nearly two weeks of intensive searching. The couple's relatives identified them, and the Israeli embassy is assisting in repatriating Cohen's body to Israel.
The Foreign Ministry stated, "Yitzhak Cohen and his partner, who disappeared from their car in the Philippines about a week ago, have been found lifeless. The Israeli embassy in Manila, along with the Department for Israelis Abroad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is providing assistance to the Cohen family in transferring the coffin to Israel."
The bodies were discovered in a quarry in a remote area and have been sent for autopsy, with the circumstances of the incident still under investigation. Their discovery was made possible following a witness account obtained by the police. Extensive searches were conducted over the past week for the couple, who were on their way to inspect a property for purchase.
Cohen, a 37-year-old Israeli, went missing in the Philippines along with his partner, Geneva Lopez, a 27-year-old Filipina model. The search for the couple spanned about two weeks after a car, presumably belonging to them, was found burned and abandoned. Last week, Yitzhak's brother, Yaniv, shared with Ynet that Yitzhak had gone to meet someone he had known for several years, and had not been heard from since. "My sister spoke with Yitzhak an hour before, and he didn't mention the meeting because it wasn't anything special. He didn't see any danger in going to this meeting."
Yaniv explained that his brother had met this person several times in the past. "He lent him money a few years ago when his mother was ill, and he never returned the money. He arranged a meeting with him and told him he would give him land in exchange for the loan. Yitzhak and his partner, who was his right-hand woman, were supposed to meet at that piece of land which he said he would give him in return for the loan."
After reaching out to locals, the Cohen family realized that Yitzhak might have been caught in a scam, and it was uncertain if he would come out of it alive. "From what we understand, it's another scam that has already happened. We are discovering that this is not a rare case," said Yaniv, adding that in the Philippines, many people go missing and are kidnapped, with the kidnappers demanding ransom for their release.
"From what we understood, it's another scam that has already happened before. We are discovering that this is not an uncommon occurrence. It's their way of targeting people who become successful businesspeople. He has been living there for seven years, he and his fiancée were planning to get married soon, and he is a businessman who developed slowly and accumulated wealth."
According to reports in the Philippines, the one who raised concerns about the couple's fate was the model's sister, Joni, who reported to the police station that they had not been able to contact them since Friday afternoon, about two weeks ago. The police reported that contact with the couple was lost on June 21, around 15:00. A burned and abandoned car, presumably belonging to the couple living in Angeles City, was found not far from the city.