"My dream is for justice to come to light, justice for Nava, but not only her. For everyone. Nava wanted to celebrate her bat mitzvah, but she didn't make it to age 12," Mazal Elimelech, the mother of the late Nava Elimelech, who was brutally murdered in 1982, told Israel Hayom on Monday after her daughter's body was exhumed following a decision by the Israel Police to reopen the case.
After reexamining the findings from the investigation into Elimelech's murder, the Lahav 433 Major Crimes Unit decided to reopen the investigation, working in conjunction with the Tel Aviv District Prosecutor's office.
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"What did my beautiful, innocent little girl do? Even today, I wait for her to come home from school. It's an old case, but even now the world is horrified [by it]. All these years, I've thought about why my daughter had to fall prey to such a monster. Why?" Mazal Elimelech asked.
"I went through a Holocaust here in Israel. I want to know who did it and why … we've lived our entire lives in pain. My husband is in the hospital. Today there's hope, but there's also anger … Now everyone has woken up?" the grieving mother, 90, said.
Two weeks ago, the Israel Police asked Elimelech for permission to exhume her daughter's body so the investigation could be pursued.
"The police talked to me and I agreed to everything they said, but I can't go into details about what they told me. [The details of the new findings that prompted police to reopen the case are currently under a gag order.] I agreed to do everything possible to get justice for Nava, to see justice and light. I want to know who did this. I don't know who did it, but I had suspicions, and maybe they were wrong. I pray to God that he will reveal justice, that's my hope. I feel really bad. Everything is taking me back [to that time], but it gives me hope," Elimelech said.
Nava's mother said she was not angry at the police for failing thus far to solve the case. "They're trying to do all they can."
Nava's older sister, Efrat, added, "We've been living with this for over 30 years. It horrified us, as a family, but also the entire country. We agreed to open up [her] grave because the mystery of her murder is with us every day. My parents are old and sick. They're fighting, but not giving up. We hope it will be solved."
Nava's oldest son, Yaakov, said on Monday in an interview to Army Radio that the police had told the family that with the new technology available today, progress could be made on the case.
"I hope something will come of this. My sister was a little girl with a good heart, and one day the sky just fell on us. Let's hope they find the sick human scum who did this, that's what we want to know. My parents don't go to her grave anymore, except on her memorial day. They used to go every day, but now they have hope," Yaakov said.
