Body of Missing US Hiker May Have Been Found in Israel

Police have found a body in an Israeli forest where a young American hiker went missing about a week ago, reports the Jerusalem Post. The body hasn't been identified yet, but authorities are working on the "strong possibility" that it is that of 23-year-old Aharon Sofer, a New Jersey resident studying in Israel, reports Haaretz. Sofer went for a hike with a friend in the Jerusalem Forest on Friday, but the pair got separated and Sofer never emerged from the woods.

Sofer's parents traveled from Lakewood, NJ, to Israel to help with the search and offered a reward of about $30,000, reports CNN. Their son had left the US to study at a rabbinical college and was to be gone three years, a family friend tells the Star-Ledger. He went hiking while on a break from classes. Police have not offered any details on whether they think foul play was involved. (More Israel stories.)