The remains of Yanai Rimon, the 25-year-old Israeli hiker who went missing in Mexico, were discovered in the country Saturday.
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Rimon, from Sderot in southern Israel, was hiking in the area of Las Nubes, near Mexico's border with Guatemala, with friends when he reportedly fell into a river and was swept away by the current. Rimon's friends said he had fallen from a height of five meters (16 ft.) and been pulled into a waterfall.
The Israeli consul in Mexico, Shmuel Eitan, along with insurance company Passport Card and international search and rescue provider Magnus had been working with local teams around the clock to locate Rimon since his disappearance.
In a statement, Rimon's family said: "Yanai, child of light, grew up and was educated in Sderot and loved the people of his city with all his heart. He looked others in the eye and was constantly striving for the common good.
"Yanai enlisted in the elite Duvdevan [IDF] Unit following a year of volunteer service at Hakfar Hayarok [youth village in the Tel-Aviv suburb of Ramat Hasharon] and was a fighter in the Duvdevan Unit," and had a deep friendship with his team members. He left for the big trip he had dreamed of after completing his mandatory service in the unit, joining his childhood friends who were traveling in the area.
"Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to all those who enlisted to help in Israel and overseas," they said.
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