A Filipino broadcasting network has released images of what is being termed the "getaway vehicle" used by suspects involved in the disappearance of Itzhak Cohen and his partner, model Geneva Lopez. According to the report by ABS-CBN, the abandoned vehicle was found on Sunday in the city of Tarlac in central Luzon, Philippines.
Cohen, a 37-year-old Israeli, went missing in the Philippines along with his partner, 27-year-old Filipino model Geneva Lopez. The couple has been missing for nearly a week and a half after a vehicle, presumably theirs, was found burned and abandoned. Yitzhak's brother, Yaniv, told Ynet that Yitzhak went to meet someone he had known for years and hasn't been heard from since. He explained that Yitzhak had lent money to this person in the past, and they had arranged to meet regarding some land offered in return for the loan. "My sister spoke to Yitzhak an hour before it happened, and he never gave off the impression that he was even slightly concerned about it," said his brother.
Yaniv recounted that his brother had met the same person several times in the past. "He lent him money a few years ago when his mother was ill, and the money was never repaid. He arranged a meeting and told him he would give him land in exchange for the loan. Itzhak and his partner, who was his right hand, were supposed to meet at that piece of land that he said he would give him in return for the loan," according to Yaniv.
After contacting locals, the Cohen family realized Itzhak might have gotten entangled in a scam and may not have survived. "From what we understood, it's another scam that has already happened before. We are discovering that this is not an uncommon occurrence," Yaniv said, adding that, in the Philippines, many people go missing and are kidnapped, with the kidnappers demanding ransom for their release.
"Several people living there who have lost friends told us this is not a one-time incident. 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," Yaniv continued.
According to reports from the Philippines, it was the model's sister, Joni, who raised concerns about the couple's fate, reporting to the police station they had been unable to contact them since Friday afternoon. The police reported that contact with the couple was lost on June 21 around 3:00 p.m. The burned and abandoned vehicle, apparently belonging to the couple, who reside in Angeles City, was found not far from the city.
Relatives of the model said she had told them that the couple was traveling to the city of Capas in the Tarlac province "to meet with a person they did business with in 2021." Documents partially burned with Lopez's name on them were found in the burned vehicle.
The Foreign Ministry announced upon learning of the disappearance that "the case is known to and being handled by the Israeli embassy in Manila and the department for Israelis abroad at the Foreign Ministry. The Israeli consul in the Philippines is handling the matter with the local authorities, and the department for Israelis abroad is in contact with the family."