Search teams mobilized as Israeli hiker disappears in India’s Dharamsala region

A large search and rescue effort has been launched in the Himalayan mountains in India for a missing Israeli hiker, sources close to the missing told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. 

Samuel Vengrinovich, 44, was last seen on Friday after leaving for a hike with a Dutch national at one of his campsites. He went missing in the Dharamsala area of northern India and was last seen in northern India, climbing Mount Triund.

Vengrinovich had left his belongings behind at his campsite, with intentions to come back, witnesses said. The last hiker who had seen him and subsequently filed a missing persons report said he was at the highest point on the Snow Line, wanting to move forward in rough terrain to see glaciers nearby.

According to the last person to see him, Vengrinovich approached Indahar Pass with two Indian hikers around 11:30 in the morning. By 3 pm, the two other hikers returned to the snow line camp without him.

Vengrinovich had immigrated to Israel from the United States and resides in Jaffa.

Fundraiser launched for search efforts

"Sammy was last seen while trekking, and we are deeply concerned for his safety. These funds will go directly toward organizing search teams, hiring local trackers, covering travel expenses, and any other necessary resources to locate him as quickly as possible," he told The Jerusalem Post.

Manuel Guzman Kizer, a friend of Vengrinovich and a volunteer with the Israel Police, told the Post that his friend was told that he did not have the right equipment for the conditions on his trek.  “He was in India for four months, and hiking in the Himalayas was the final leg of his trip before planning to return to Israel,” Guzman Kizer said.

Since Vengrinovich’s disappearance, additional details from those he hiked with have surfaced. One of the hikers told the family that they waited at a specific meeting spot for at least an hour for him. 

Among the items left behind at his campsite included his phone and passport. He left his campsite with an extra sweater, a blue backpack, half a ration of fried rice, a bottle of water, and trekking poles. 

Family, friends, and a local Chabad Rabbi are in the process of expanding the search, which so far has sent out multiple medics with medical equipment, binoculars, and even drones to attempt to help search efforts. Efforts to dispatch search parties via helicopters are also underway.

Search and rescue efforts have been narrowed to a specific section based on his last known location. Other Israelis traveling in the area have been active in the international effort to find him and bring him home.

Israel’s Harel and the international search and rescue organization, Magnus, have also dispatched teams to contribute to the effort to help find the missing hiker.

The Foreign Ministry said that "the Israeli Embassy in India and the Department for Israelis in Distress at the Foreign Ministry are assisting in the search for a missing Israeli in Dharamsala, and are in contact with local police and government officials, the insurance company, and his family. We hope that the Israeli will be found safe."