Aug. 26, 2014: U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, right, R-NJ, addresses a gathering as he stands near a photograph of Aaron Sofer, center, 23, in Lakewood, N.J. (AP/Mel Evans)
Authorities in Israel have found a body they suspect may belong to a 23-year-old New Jersey man, nearly a week after he vanished while hiking with a friend in Jerusalem Forest, sources told Fox News.
Israeli police sources told Fox News' Jerusalem Bureau that a body has been found in the forest not far from where Aaron Sofer, of Lakewood, disappeared last Friday while hiking with a friend. Sources also said the search for the Yeshiva teen have now been halted and adding that no signs of violence were found on the body.
Israel News Feed tweeted several photos of intense police activity in the area.
Sofer’s parents, Moshe and Chulda, had flown from New Jersey to Israel to assist in the search and have offered a $30,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of their son, an Orthodox student who had been studying at a Jewish yeshiva for the past year.
Israeli police previously said they were probing all possible avenues in the investigation, including the possibility that Sofer may have been kidnapped by Palestinian militants while navigating a steep incline with a friend in the Beit Zayit area of the forest.
U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey, held a news conference in Sofer’s hometown on Tuesday and said U.S. and Israeli officials are "leaving no stone unturned" in their search efforts. Despite hundreds of individuals actively searching for Sofer, officials have yet to find “any trace” of the young man, according to his cousin.
A State Department spokesperson told FoxNews.com on Tuesday that they were aware of the reports, but couldn't offer further information due to privacy considerations.
The body will now be transferred to the Abu Kabir Forensics Center for positive identification, The Algemeiner reports.
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