PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – A 23-year-old German-Israeli woman who grew up in Portland, and was held hostage by Hamas, is confirmed to be dead.
The Israel Foreign Ministry shared the news of Shani Louk’s death on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday morning.
“Shani who was kidnapped from a music festival and tortured and paraded around Gaza by Hamas terrorists, experienced unfathomable horrors,” the ministry wrote.
Louk was a former student at the Portland Jewish Academy.
A viral video at the start of the Israel-Hamas war showed Shani’s body surrounded by Hamas militants, parading her through the streets.
Shani was apparently attending the Tribe of Supernova music festival with friends when Hamas fighters attacked. Her dreadlocks and tattoos helped loved ones identify her in the video.
For at least a week after Shani’s kidnapping, her family held out hope that she was alive, hearing from locals that she was in a hospital with serious injuries.
“It gave us a little bit of hope that she’s at least in a hospital even if it’s in a bad condition,” Louk said. “But it’s better, and that’s why we hope we can free her and get her out of there.”
On Sunday, her mother confirmed to German news outlet RTL that her daughter was dead.
“We got the news yesterday that my daughter is no longer alive,” her mother told RTL.
Israeli officials said a skull fragment that had been her daughter’s was identified based on DNA evidence.
In total, more than 1,400 people were killed and 200 more were kidnapped in the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel that day, which targeted the music festival that Shani was attending as well as towns and military bases.
In the RTL interview, her mother said the skull fragment indicated she had likely been killed on October 7.
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