KIDNAPPED Shani Louk has been announced dead, her family have said.
The German tattoo artist was last seen in harrowing footage of Hamas terrorists parading her body on the back of a pickup truck on October 7, 2023.
Shani Nicole Louk/CENShani Louk, 22, was at a music festival in Israel when she was seized by Hamas terrorists.[/caption]
Who was Shani Louk?
Shani Louk was a German woman, aged 22.
The Washington Post reported that Shani, who had a Polish father, held dual German-Israeli citizenship.
She was a tattoo artist, and her professional Instagram page suggests she had been tattooing in Tel Aviv, and various locations around Israel.
Shani’s Instagram account suggested she had been living in Israel for several years.
Shani was attending the Nova music festival in Israel on October 7 which saw around 1,400 people killed and around 200 taken as hostages.
The dance music festival was taking place in rural farmland near the Gaza-Israel, just six kilometres east of Gaza.
What happened to Shani Louk?
At dawn on October 7 morning, Hamas militants opened fire on the festival goers, as part of a coordinated attack on Israel.
It was then that Shani Louk was taken by Hamas before being paraded on the back of a pick-up truck, with Hamas claiming she was an Israeli soldier.
The horrific and upsetting footage showed militants jeering and spitting on Shani’s body.
It was unclear if she was alive in the video, although her mother later stated that she was alive and being held in a Gaza hospital.
Shani’s cousin Tomasina Weintraub-Louk told the Mail Online that the family knew it was “definitely Shani” due to her distinctive leg tattoos and dreadlocks.
She said: “We have heard nothing. We are hoping for positive news. She was at a music festival for peace. This is a nightmare for our family.”
Shani’s mother, Ricarda, has begged for help in finding out what happened to her daughter after the video circulated on social media.
In an emotional video: “This morning my daughter, Shani Nicole Louk, a German citizen, was kidnapped with a group of tourists in southern Israel by Palestinian Hamas.
“We were sent a video in which I could clearly see our daughter unconscious in the car with the Palestinians and them driving around the Gaza Strip. I ask you to send us any help or any news. Thank you very much.”
Another woman also wrote on X under the name Adi Louk: “This is my sister Shani Louk. She it (sic) taken by Hamas. She is a German citizen.”
For more than three weeks, Louk’s family prayed that she could be saved from the terrorists.
But Louk’s mother and sister announced that she was dead on October 30, 2023.
“Unfortunately we got the news yesterday that my daughter is no longer alive,” mother Ricarda said on NTV.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of my sister,” her sibling Adi Louk said on social media.
The exact circumstances of Louk’s death are as of yet unclear and it is unknown where Louk’s body was found.
However, members of her family are quoted in Hebrew media saying that they received a letter from the Israeli Zaka rescue service saying that a bone from the base of her skull had been recovered and identified.
Louk’s boyfriend, Mexican national Orión Hernández Radoux, is also believed to have been taken by terrorists in the attack.
In the days after Louk vanished, The Sun revealed chilling text messages sent from the phone of her missing boyfriend Orión Hernández.
The messages written in Arabic were sent from the Mexican dad’s phone that say: “I spit on you” and “God damn you”.
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