A well-known New York City plumber tragically lost his life while in Colombia, where he had traveled with hopes of meeting a prospective new wife.
Nachum Israel Eber, aged 51, was part of the Belz Hasidic community in Borough Park, Brooklyn. Authorities discovered his dismembered body in a blood-soaked wardrobe left on a Bogota street on Sunday.
Eber, a divorced father, believed he had found a potential partner within the local Hasidic community, according to his friend Motti Dresdner, who shared this information with the New York Post.
He had made the journey to Colombia’s capital to meet this possible match.
Security footage captured Eber leaving his Airbnb accommodation in Bogota shortly after 9 p.m. local time on April 21, before he suddenly vanished.
Days later, a wardrobe was discovered in various locations around the city, which ultimately led to the grim finding of Eber’s remains inside.
Eber was described by Dresdner as a ‘gentleman in his prime’ who was ‘always talking about his future.’
‘How he was going to get remarried and find a perfect bride, and have a beautiful life,’ Dresdner told the outlet. ‘To be cut off like this is very sad.’
New York City plumber Nachum Israel Eber, 51, was found dead in Bogota, Colombia, on Sunday. He had traveled to the Colombian capital to meet a possible new wife
Eber, a divorced dad from the Belz Hasidic community in Borough Park, Brooklyn, was found dismembered inside a bloodstained wardrobe that was dumped on a street
Surveillance video captured Eber leaving his Airbnb rental in Bogota around 9pm local time on April 21
Eber was clad in all black when he was captured leaving his Airbnb in the surveillance video.
Dresdner said Eber’s death was a ‘terrible tragedy’ and added that the murdered father ‘wouldn’t hurt a fly.’
‘He was always kind, always with a smile,’ Dresdner said. ‘He always spoke positively. In his hardest times, he would always talk about how things are going to work out for the best.’
Eber was remembered as someone who ‘always tried to make lemonade out of lemons.’
‘The community is devastated, the community is in shock, how a person goes there just to take care of personal business and end up like this,’ Dresdner said.
Colombian authorities mistook Eber as a rabbi but friends insisted he was a plumber and building developer, according to the New York Post.
Borough Park is home to about 96,000 Jews, per the UJA–Federation of New York.
Eber had found a possible partner in the local Hasidic community, according to a close friend
Eber, a plumber and building developer, was remembered as someone who ‘always tried to make lemonade out of lemons’
Eber’s family contacted the Israeli volunteer search and rescue response organization ZAKA for help arranging for his body to be released, PEOPLE reported.
Yossi Landau, a commander with the South Region in Israel, told the outlet that Aber had disappeared on April 21.
He was found last week but was not immediately identified since ‘he didn’t have any passport.’
‘They took him to the medical examiner’s office, and they did a search and the family got notified that it was him,’ Landau said.
The arrangements to release Eber’s body were described as ‘difficult’ by Landau, particularly because ‘this is a homicide.’
He added that he had two objectives when it came to Eber’s body.
‘One is to try to avoid autopsy because that’s in the Jewish law,’ Landau said. ‘We know that autopsy is forbidden.’
Israeli volunteer search and rescue response organization ZAKA was contacted by Eber’s family to help release his body
Another shot of the wardrobe in which Eber’s dismembered body was found
The US Department of State is urging Americans to ‘reconsider travel’ to Colombia because of ‘crime, terrorism, civil unrest, and kidnapping’ (Picture of Bogota)
Landau added that Eber’s killing was a ‘difficult and painful incident of a Jew murdered far from home,’ per the Times of Israel.
‘We thank the local Jewish community in Colombia and all those working to bring him to Jewish burial as soon as possible,’ Landau said.
Initial findings from Colombian authorities indicated Eber had been ambushed by a local criminal gang who was attempting to rob him.
Instead, they killed Eber before fleeing, the outlet added.
Colombian lawmakers have reacted to Eber’s alleged killing and dismemberment.
Lorena Ríos Cuéllar, a Colombian senator, wrote Tuesday on X that she was ‘demanding justice’ and urged authorities to conduct a ‘rigorous investigation.’
‘Colombia must be a country where our fundamental rights are fully guaranteed and where we can all live and practice our faith without restrictions and without any fear,’ Cuellar said.
The Daily Mail has reached out to US Embassy in Colombia and ZAKA for comment.
