The search for the missing Meah Shearim family continues, as authorities tried earlier in the week to locate the mom, fearing a child may be ill and require medical attention.

The case began following the death of an infant in a Jerusalem hospital. Social workers and doctors fear another child in the family is ill too. The family is described to be affiliated with the ‘shawl’ community. When the social worker accompanied by police arrived at the home in Meah Shearim at 2:00am the family had already fled. The Eida Chareidis is cooperating with police and social services, putting out the word that anyone with information as to their whereabouts must step forward.

The mother’s brother, involved in the cult community too, told Israel’s Channel 2 News that “no one in the community knows the family’s whereabouts and they do not cooperate with authorities or the Eida Chareidis in this case.”

He explained the children were put in different homes, citing the shawl community is very tight-knit and no one is going to assist police in locating the family. “There are some 30-40 families in the group in Yerushalayim and quite honestly, it is like looking for a needle in a hay stack. There is no chance of following them.”

He explained the rumors as to their whereabouts will not help authorities, for the moment they hear the rumors, they are moved to another location.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)