The body of an Orthodox-Jewish man who has been missing for over two years was recently found thanks to the efforts of Chesed Shel Emes, giving his wife and family much needed closure and enabling him to receive a dignified Halachic burial.
On February 27, 2014, Aaron Moebus walked out of his family home in Monsey, New York, without a word and was not seen since. His wife and children notified the authorities, and a few days later a missing persons report was filed and search was conducted.
Originally from Germany, Aaron converted to Judaism and lived as a Ger Tzeddek, getting married and settling in Monsey, New York with his wife and children. He worked in B and H Photo, and was a member of the Bobover sect of Hasidic Jewry.
Aaron reportedly suffered from depression, and apparently suffered an incident before walking out of his home.
In July of 2014, a body was recovered without any identification and was turned over to the medical examiner’s office. Without any new information and no family members claiming the body, he was buried as a ‘John Doe’ in a potter’s field in April of 2015.
Working with the Ramapo Police Department and Chaverim of Rockland County, the family never gave up hope and reached out to various agencies and non-profits in an effort to locate their father/husband.
Among those who they reached out to was the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification, which consists of a Laboratory for Molecular Identification, the Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology, and the Forensic Services Unit, and provided them with items that could possibly identify him by means of DNA.
A few weeks later those efforts finally paid off, when the institute contacted the medical examiner’s office and alerted them that they had found a DNA match to the ‘John Doe’ that was buried over a year ago.
After doing their own analysis, the Medical Examiner’a Office positively identified Mr. Moebus. They contacted the family just days before the start of the holiday of Shavuos, and notified them of the recent finding.
Heter Agunah and Kevuras Yisroel
Over the last few days, community activists reached out to Chesed Shel Emes, an organization dedicated to bringing proper respect for the dead [Kavod Hames] and bringing Niftarim to proper Kevuras Yisroel. The organization immediately got to work, and has been tirelessly laboring to solve the many Halachic challenges and logistical issues in order to quickly bring this matter to a proper close.
“The process for disinterring a body from a potters field – which is managed by the corrections department – takes weeks and sometimes months, but thanks to [Chesed Shel Emes’s] work with the agency in the past, we were able to expedite the process and have it done within two days,” said a source involved in the efforts.
The body was then transported back to the medical examiner’s office for reexamination and identification before it was released back to the family.
“Another challenge is securing a Heter Agunah [release to remarry] for the wife of the niftar, so on Erev Yom Tov we reached out to an area Beis Din and showed them the DNA results along with three independent dental examinations we conducted and we were able to to secure the Heter so that she would not be [chained] any longer than necessary,” he said, adding “this also permits her to sit Shiva as well.”
Given the circumstances of the niftar being a ger tzedek and the family having no funds to bring their father to a proper kevuras yisroel, Chesed Shel Emes undertook the burden of all the expenses and provided a burial plot in their cemetery in Woodridge, NY.
The Levaya will take place today, Tuesday, at 3:00pm at 67 Regina Rd. Monsey, NY, and the Kevura will take place in the Chesed Shel Emese Cemetary at 5:00pm at 113 Old Turnpike Rd. Woodridge, NY.
Levayah in Monsey
Those wishing to contribute to Chesed Shel Emese to help alleviate the burden of the expenses and to help provide the resources in other similar cases can donate on their website www.chesedshelemes.com or by Clicking Here.
