Rebecca Hershtein, a 75-year-old Israeli woman from Tiberias was murdered this week in Uruguay; her daughter is the main suspect, Israeli media reported.
Hershtein was reported missing by relatives on May 22, after having arrived in Uruguay a month earlier to visit her hometown.
During a police investigation, footage was uncovered of Hershtein entering her daughter’s house, and according to the security surveillance, she never left. Police searched the building with the help of sniffer dogs, but found no additional evidence.
However on Wednesday, during the investigation, Hershtein’s daughter confessed to having physically fought with her mother, who wanted to sell the apartment. During the fight, her daughter said Hershstein fell, hit her head and died.
Hershtein’s daughter said she threw the remains into black trash bags, and then disposed of them. She accidentally gave one of the bags to a customer that arrived at her cleaning supplies store located below the apartment.
According to reports from Ynet, her daughter burned the body in an outdoor bathtub before disposing of it.
After Hershtein’s bone fragments were discovered in the customer’s bag, she was arrested to await trial, according to the report by Walla news.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded to the murder, “The Israeli Embassy in Uruguay and the Department for Israelis Abroad in the Consular Division of the Foreign Ministry are in contact with local authorities and acquaintances of Israeli citizens, and will assist in bringing her for burial in Israel, as needed.”