The bodies of an American-Israeli grandma and her Harry Potter-loving granddaughter, whose plight went viral thanks in part to J.K. Rowling, were found near the Israel-Gaza border on Wednesday after they were feared kidnapped by Hamas, Israeli officials said.
It’s unclear how long the bodies of 80-year-old Carmela Dan, the “matriarch” of her family, and her 12-year-old granddaughter Noya had been there for—but the discovery crushed relatives’ hopes that the pair may still be alive and held hostage in Gaza.
Noya had gone to her grandma’s house in Kibbutz Nir Oz, about three miles from the Gaza border, on Oct. 6 to stay the night—something relatives said she did often. Hamas militants flooded across the border the next morning, however, burning much of it to the ground and kidnapping more than a quarter of its residents, officials said.
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Carmela’s niece, Noam Dan, posted to Facebook that the family believed Carmela and Noya—along with three other still-missing relatives—had been taken into Gaza as hostages. Israeli media reports said Thursday that they never made it that far: their burned bodies were recovered near the Israel-Gaza border fence by workers for ZAKA Search and Rescue.
“I’m in tears,” Noam wrote Thursday.
Galit Dan, Noya’s 53-year-old mother, told Israeli media that she was hiding in a panic room five miles away from her daughter when the kibbutz was overrun by Hamas. In a recorded interview with Israeli public broadcasting, she played a voice messages of her daughter’s final words to her.
“Mom, there was a big boom at the door that scared me,” Noya said in Hebrew in the recording. “All the windows in grandma’s house were broken at the entrance. Because there was another boom, there are many broken windows. Mommy, I’m scared.”
The house where Noya and Carmela were kidnapped from was burned entirely, photos obtained by the Daily Mail show. Images showed a collapsed ceiling, charred walls, and smashed windows. A child’s bike and doll were lying among the ruin.
Photos of Noya holding a wand and wearing a Harry Potter-themed outfit went viral on social media earlier this week, with the author J.K. Rowling re-sharing the images and condemning Hamas’ surprise attack.
“Kidnapping children is despicable and wholly unjustifiable,” Rowling wrote. “For obvious reasons, this picture has hit home with me. May Noya and all hostages taken by Hamas be returned soon, safely, to their families.”
Ron Bahat, a spokesperson for Nir Oz, said Thursday that Carmela and Noya “did not stand a chance.”
“They had taken shelter from the rockets when the air raid alert went off,” he said, according to the Daily Mail, “but the terrorists set fire to the house to force them out.”
A line of burnt cars in Kibbutz Nir Oz nearly two weeks after Hamas set much of the community ablaze.
Reuters/Amir CohenIn a column published Wednesday by The Hill, Abbey Onn, a relative of the pair, wrote that Carmela was the “matriarch of the family” who loved to cook and garden, and was a “compassionate caregiver.”
Carmela also “dedicated years to selflessly facilitate medical care for Palestinians from Gaza in Israel,” Onn wrote, only slowing down as she battled with heart problems and the onset of dementia.
Onn wrote that her family communicated in a group text on WhatsApp in their final moments of freedom. In one text, she said, a relative wrote: “We can hear Arabic, they’re in our house now, they’re overturning everything. We can hear our neighbors being killed.”
The last messages from relatives in Nir Oz arrived between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m., according to Onn.
Onn wrote that her family had held out hope that Carmela and Noya were alive and being held as hostages largely because they spotted Onn’s cousin, 12-year-old Erez Calderon, being “violently dragged away” by a member of Hamas. While the clip was graphic, it at least showed Erez alive.
Erez is still missing, along with his 16-year-old sister, Sahar Kalderon, and their dad, 50-year-old Ofer Kalderon. Ofer is Carmela’s son-in-law.
Onn said she had pleaded with U.S. officials to help bring her family members home. She said that had included an in-person meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Zoom meetings with President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
“They have no aid,” she wrote. “We have no sign of life. Time is of the essence.”
