Young couple found dead in Eilat hotel, circumstances unclear

Police found a farewell note indicating a double suicide, however, a police official said they are investigating all possible causes for the death.

By ELIYAHU KAMISHER
Updated: JUNE 13, 2017 11:22
A hotel is seen against a backdrop of mountains in the Red Sea resort of Eilat [Illustrative] (photo credit: REUTERS)
A hotel is seen against a backdrop of mountains in the Red Sea resort of Eilat [Illustrative]
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Police have opened an investigation into the deaths of a young couple found dead in a luxury Eilat hotel room on Sunday.
Odelia Bachar and Baruch Indig, both in their 20s, who declared their relationship on Facebook on June 8, were discovered lifeless three days later at the Herods Eilat Hotel in the Red Sea resort town in unclear circumstances.
Police found a farewell note indicating a double suicide, but said they are investigating all possible causes for the deaths, reportedly including murder-suicide. The Jerusalem Post’s sister publication, Maariv, reported that police are investigating the possibility that Indig murdered Bachar and then committed suicide. According to Maariv, there is hotel security footage showing Indig walking around the hotel alone, raising suspicions that Odelia was already dead in the hotel room and police are checking the possibility that Odelia died first.
However, the police investigation was made more difficult as both families petitioned the Supreme Court on Monday against an autopsy of the deceased after the Eilat Magistrate's Court approved the police’s request for an autopsy. A police spokesman declined to further comment on the circumstances of the death or provide details of the condition of the couple when they were found.
“At this stage, the bodies were sent to the forensic institute to determine the cause of death,” the Eilat District Police said in a statement.
Indig’s brother-in-law Moshe Malach told Army Radio on Monday that media reports of murder suspicions are “malicious speculation” and said the couple was preparing to get married.
“Police forces who arrived at the scene conducted a preliminary investigation from which no criminal suspicion had been raised so far, and at this stage the Israel Police is investigating all the possibilities,” the police said in a statement Sunday afternoon.
According to the Facebook accounts of the deceased, Indig previously served in the IDF’s prestigious Army Radio unit and Bachar worked at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. Indig, who became secular after growing up ultra-Orthdox was indicted six months ago on allegations of hacking into people’s Facebook accounts to commit sexual harassment and infringe on privacy, Hebrew media reported.
Indig’s Facebook profile has a number of posts dealing with feelings of depression, as well as incidents of sexual assault he experienced in his childhood. Two weeks ago, Indig wrote about “an aura of sadness and loneliness when I’m alone” and “I think, and this time maybe for real, that I have no more room in this world?”
Irit Drieblatt, a Magen David Adom paramedic, described the scene in the hotel room: “They were unconscious, not breathing and without a pulse,” she said. “We performed the required medical examinations and they did not have any signs of life. Their deaths were declared on site.”