Israeli authorities have found in a mountain cave a dead body along with some papers showing the name of a 29-year-old Vietnamese undergraduate who had been reported missing for nearly six years in Israel, the student’s school said.

The Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry has received a document from the Vietnamese Embassy in Israel notifying the findings by Israeli authorities related to Nguyen Hai Binh, who was reported missing in Israel in 2016, Dr. Huynh Thanh Hung, acting rector of the university, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper Monday.

Israeli agencies had detected a dead body, personal belongings, and some papers including a student ID card and bankcard with Binh’s full name in a deep mountain cave, according to the document.

Israeli authorities have contacted the student’s family for a DNA test to determine if the body was Binh, a native of south-central Binh Thuan Province, Dr. Hung said, adding that the university had yet to get official information on whether this student is alive or dead.

On April 2, the Binh Thuan administration continued requesting Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vietnamese Embassy in Israel to assist in the search for Binh.

The request came after provincial authorities continued receiving an appeal from Binh’s parents asking for help and assistance in searching for him, with whom the family had failed to get in contact since around mid-September 2016.

Previously, the Binh Thuan government had once made the same request to the same agencies for such a search. 

On August 2, 2016, Binh, an undergraduate of the university’s department of biotechnology, left Vietnam for Israel to participate in an intern program organized by his school.

About 40 days later, on September 17, Binh was announced missing, according to Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper. 

“After being notified by Israeli authorities of Binh’s missing, the school sent a task group to Israel to coordinate the search for the student in 2016, but it came to no avail,” Dr. Hung said.

The school then informed Binh’s family of the incident, the school’s acting rector added. 

On Monday, the university sent a group to Binh’s family for a visit, during which they provided the latest information related to the student to his parents while waiting for official conclusions from Israeli authorities.

The school is coordinating with agencies concerned, at home and abroad, to get more information about Binh and keep his family posted on it, Dr. Hung said.

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