http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1086360.html





Last update - 22:20 18/05/2009


Police find body of American-Israeli teen missing since 2003

By Haaretz Service

Tags: Israel News, FBI



Police announced on Monday they have found the remains of Dana Bennett, an Israeli teenager who vanished without a trace nearly six years ago.

Bennett disappeared on July 31, 2003 after she had finished her shift at a restaurant on the Tiberias boardwalk. She was last seen crossing the street in the direction of her aunt's house in Tiberias later that night.

After she was reported missing, police and volunteers launched a massive search of the area, but found no trace of Bennett. Because Bennett was an American citizen, the FBI cooperated in the search as well. Despite the intensive combing of the area, no trace of Bennett was found and the search was called off after two weeks.
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In January 2005, a message was sent to French news agencies from a group calling itself the "Galilee Freedom Fighters", which claimed that the group was holding Bennett. The note demanded the Israeli government release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in order to receive a sign of life from Bennett. The group failed to release any proof that they were holding Bennett and eventually doubts were raised that they were involved in Bennet's disappearance.

Bennet was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1985. Her parents divorced when she was five-years-old and her mother returned to Tiberias and Bennett was raised by her father in Los Angeles. When Bennett was 18, her father sent her to study at Kibbutz Tirat Tzvi outside Tiberias.

In the last years of her life, Bennett developed a neurological defect where she would black out for short periods of time and would come to with no recollection of what occurred during those moments.

Over time, the blackouts worsened and become longer and more frequent. In March 2003, she underwent a complicated, 8-hour surgery to repair the problem. Bennett made a speedy recovery, but was prescribed pills by her doctor which she was required to take twice a day in order to prevent her blackouts from returning.