PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Shani Louk, who went to the Portland Jewish Academy in the early 2000s, was confirmed dead by her mother on Monday morning according to multiple reports.
According to the Associated Press and as reported by CNN, Ricarda Louk told a German news agency that she was informed of her daughter’s death by the Israeli military.
Shani’s body hasn’t been found yet, Louk said that a splinter of a skull bone was found and submitted for DNA testing.
Louk said she believes her daughter died on Oct. 7 when a music festival in southern Israel was attacked by Hamas militants from Gaza.
Shani went to kindergarten at the Portland Jewish Academy in the early 2000s and her former teacher recalled the warmth that Shani brought to her classroom.
“The thing about Shani, her sister Adi and their family is that they were an Intel family and an Israeli Intel family that came to Portland and brought this Israeli spirit with them,” Spilman told KOIN 6 News. “Shani was sweet, beautiful smile — just the sweetness in our classroom.”
At the time of the incident, videos circulated online that appeared to show Shani lying motionless in the back of a pickup truck.
