'I lost dad': Missing 4-year-old Israeli boy found alive after overnight search

Search efforts for four-year-old Yuval Kogan ended in celebration Friday after the boy was found alive at Nitzanim Beach, over 24 hours after disappearing while on a family picnic at nearby Hofnit Beach in Ashkelon.

The extensive search drew hundreds of police officers, volunteers, rescue teams, and Israel's security services, as authorities searched by air, sea, and land following concerns the child may have been abducted or succumbed to the extreme heat.

“After many hours of frantic, nonstop searches for four-year-old Yuval Kogan, who was last seen yesterday afternoon, the missing person was located a short time ago on Nitzanim Beach, safe and sound,” the Missing Persons Unit in the Southern Region said on Friday.

Kogan disappeared around 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Footage from a nearby security camera showed Yuval with his father and sisters shortly before he vanished. His father later told searchers that his son had been only steps behind him moments before he realized he was missing.

The child was eventually found standing beneath a tree in the coastal dunes at Nitzanim Beach. Kogan was reportedly looking toward the rescue teams as they approached him and said, “I lost dad.”

Dr. Dina Kogan, a pediatrician and Yuval’s mother, warned that the amount of time her son had been missing, combined with temperatures reaching 35 C (95 F), placed him at extreme risk.

She also urged authorities to consider the possibility that he had been kidnapped and to use every available resource to find him.

In an online video, she said: “We’ve been checking this area for almost 24 hours; it’s possible he’s not in this area. It could be that he was kidnapped, I don’t know with what motive – it could be nationalist, or maybe some psychopath took him,” adding, “There are police, and there are Shin Bet involved, but it’s not enough — I want everyone on their feet, I beg of you.”

Israel Police, the Shin Bet, and Fire and Rescue Services took part in the search, deploying a helicopter, divers, and other specialized resources.

On Friday morning, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir arrived at the scene with the police commissioner.

“We must do everything we can to bring this child home,” he said, according to Israel's Channel 12. “I am on my way to Jerusalem from here, to speak with Shin Bet chief David Zini on the matter.”

Regarding whether authorities were treating the case as a kidnapping, Ben Gvir said that “every possibility was being looked into.”

Hundreds of police officers and volunteers searched through the night and into Friday, combing the area by air, sea, and land with the support of rescue teams and advanced technology.

When news broke that Kogan had been found, celebrations erupted on the beach. Yuval’s mother greeted him by video call to tell him she was waiting for him with a popsicle.