Bloodstained car, conflicting accounts: mystery deepens over disappearance of southern Israeli man

Eldar Yitzhak Dayan, 23, of Dimona, has been missing for 11 days, prompting a police investigation that has led to the arrest of two friends on suspicion of obstructing the investigation. Dayan last communicated on July 16, telling his girlfriend, “Listen, baby, there’s trouble. I’ll be heading back to the city soon.” His family filed a missing-person report on July 24 after initial delays. A car belonging to the mother of one of the arrested friends was found abandoned on July 18 near a gas station in Petah Tikva with a shattered window and bloodstains. The friend, who was driving the car, reportedly gave conflicting accounts of Dayan's last known whereabouts, claiming they separated at a Paz gas station near Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv. Police are investigating various possibilities, including a hit-and-run scenario, stating, “This is not a routine missing-person case.”