Israeli Student Comes To America

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24-year-old Israeli student Dana Rishpy came to the United States to look for graduate schools.

Dana Rishpy, an Israeli student, came to the United States to look for a graduate school. In March of 2007, the grad school tour took the 24-year-old Dana all over the US.  Her trip culminated in Los Angeles where she stayed with family.

During the entire trip, Dana kept in constant contact with her family via emails.  She regularly kept them posted on her activities and what she was doing in the US. While in LA, Dana decided to take a quick solo trip to Cancun, Mexico.  On a whim, she booked a flight at the end of March and headed down.

Each day she was in Mexico, Dana emailed her family and told them things like how she was traveling to Isla Mujeres and Playa del Carmen. In Playa del Carmen she boarded a bus to Tulum. On the bus, she met two Swiss tourists and an American man who said he was a 32-year-old real estate developer from Santa Monica, Calif. Dana e-mailed her family that she had accepted an offer by the American to stay at a bungalow in Tulum that he rented.

Dana made it clear in her e-mails that her relationship with the developer was purely platonic and even wrote in her diary that the American was "stinky, unclean, long-haired and not very attractive." There was no doubt in Dana's mind that this was not a romantic rendezvous.

Dana Vanishes After Party

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Dana was extremely communicative with her family the whole time she was traveling in North America.

On March 30, 2007, Dana wrote in her diary that she and the "smelly American" planned to go to a party. 

Eyewitnesses confirm the pair were seen at the party.  But, Dana Rishpy has not been seen or heard from since.

After about two weeks, Dana's parents became concerned that they weren't getting the daily updates from their daughter and all attempts at tracking her down had been futile.  They decided to log on to her email account, which they had access to. 

When they logged on to her e-mail, the Rishpys emailed everyone who seemed to have had contact with their daughter in Mexico.  But, no one had seen Dana since March 31st (the day after the party).

International Hunt Underway

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Dana's emails stopped on March 30, 2007. Cops say she hasn't been seen since.

Mexican police started looking for Dana in Tulum.  The United States and Israeli Consulates have offered their assistance, but no one has found any answers about what happened to Dana.

The Rishpys don't understand how there are still so many unanswered questions in their daughter's disappearance.  They are anxious for any news.

Police have identified and questioned the American man who Dana described as smelly and unkempt.  He says he has not seen Dana since the day after the party.