US woman's body found in Jerusalem-Beit Shemesh area
Police launch homicide investigation; 2nd woman, Kaye Susan Wilson, alerts police after escaping attackers with hands bound, stab wounds.
By JPOST.COM STAFF, YAAKOV LAPPIN, JUDY SIEGEL, MEcrime scene police murder holon 248 88(photo credit: Israel Police)
The body of Christine Logan, who went missing in the Beit Shemesh-Jerusalem area, was found early Sunday morning after police and IDF searched all Saturday night, fearing she had been kidnapped in a nationalistically motivated incident.The search, which was joined by volunteers, was launched after another woman, Kaye Susan Wilson reported being attacked by two Arab men in a forest near Mata, located outside Jerusalem, within the Green Line. Wilson was found with her hands bound and several stab wounds to her chest and back. Logan's body was found several hundred meters from the road between Mata and Beit Shemesh.RELATED:Man, 20, dies after stabbed at TA's Terminal nightclub70-year-old J'lem woman found stabbed to death at homePolice have launched a homicide investigation.On Saturday, Wilson said she had escaped her attackers and managed to reach Mata, where she met two families in a park. They contacted emergency services.Wilson, 46, a tour guide, made aliya from Great Britain in 1991, and lives in Givat Ze'ev.Her stab wounds were superficial and she did not lose a lot of blood, according to a spokesman at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem. She suffered moderate-to-light injuries, and was treated in the trauma unit.The spokesman refused to give any more details, saying the case was in police hands, and declined to let doctors speak to the press.Kaye remained conscious on the way to the hospital, Magen David Adom paramedics said.“She described being attacked, tied up and stabbed by two Arab men,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.“She did not know who they were, or what the reason for the attack was. We are examining whether this is a nationalistic stabbing, but other leads are being examined as well,” Rosenfeld said.
Security forces were highly concerned for Logan's safety. The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) became involved in the search and the investigation as concern mounted on Saturday night.Police sealed off Route 375 near Mata in both directions, erected roadblocks in the Jerusalem area, and scrambled helicopters to assist in the search.Jerusalem district police chief Cmdr. Aharon Franco told reporters during a press briefing in the area that searchers were being guided by descriptions of Logan given by Wilson.Israel Police Insp.-Gen. David Cohen traveled to a mobile command and control center set up by Jerusalem police to coordinate operations, and the IDF dispatched additional forces to help comb the area.Yaakov Lappin and Melanie Lidman contributed to this report
