BICOM

The IDF has announced it is resuming the investigation into the disappearance of Guy Hever, a soldier who disappeared from his post on the Golan Heights 19 years ago.

An IDF statement said that “targeted searches will take place in the Golan Heights and Jordan Valley highlands” early this week. Searches have taken place every year to gather information on Hever’s whereabouts ever since his disappearance. It is unclear whether this fresh effort is in response to any new information.

The statement continued: “A number of units are working together in the hope of discovering new evidence that would shed light on the case. The State of Israel and the IDF are deeply committed to its missing sons and those in captivity. The IDF will continue to do everything in its power to resolve the case of Guy Hever’s disappearance.”

Hever was a 20-year-old sergeant in the Artillery Corps at the time. He left his post in 1997 carrying only his rifle and military ID. Soon after his disappearance a local resident reported seeing a uniformed person at the border with Syria. Another person came forward claiming to have seen Hever at a junction near the Golan town of Katzrin.

One theory is that Hever was kidnapped and transferred into Syria. In 2005, a German citizen Marion Keunecke was arrested in Aleppo, Syria. She had lived in Israel for 20 years and claimed she was briefly questioned in Damascus in Hebrew by a thin, dark-skinned man. Learning of Hever’s case two years later, she wrote to Hever’s mother saying: “I met your son… with 90 per cent certainty. Of course I cannot say 100 per cent because his name was not mentioned.”

In 2012, Hever’s mother Rina said: “I have not the shadow of a doubt that he’s alive,” adding “this is harder than grief. It’s something that is not resolved”.