Rahma el-Dennaoui is a girl from Lebanon who now lives in Australia. Rahma’s parents are Hosayn el-Dennaoui and Alyaa. Hosayn is a migrant from Iaal, Lebanon, while Alyaa is from the nearby village of Dayranbouh.
She disappeared on 10th November 2005 when she was only 19 months old. That morning, she was in her bedroom at her home in Lurnea, Sydney, along with her siblings. Despite the efforts of the police, public appeals, and a coronial inquest in 2012, there has been no sign of her since May 2019.
The NSW Police are offering a reward of A$250,000 to anyone who can provide information to help solve the case.
Disappearance
Rahma’s father checked on her at 2 am, but when he came back at 8 am, she was missing. Rahma had only just learned to walk, and their home was almost 1 kilometer away from any bushland. There was a rip in the fly screen covering the window above her bed, which was big enough for Rahma to go through. Some sources mention that the screen was cut, not torn.
According to her three-year-old sister, she witnessed Rahma being taken away by a man who didn’t have any hands.
Investigation
The police treated Rahma’s case as a potential a*duction since an extensive search yielded no further clues or sightings of her. Sniffer dogs were also unable to find any trace of the little girl.
During the coronial inquest, which took place from April to November 2012, Deputy State Coroner Sharon Freund delivered an open finding. She pointed out shortcomings and issues with the police investigation concerning both the family and a suspected ped0phile who lived nearby.
In May 2007, the New Idea magazine offered a reward of $20,000 for any information that could lead to Rahma’s safe return. The editor-in-chief, Robyn Foster, became interested in the case due to the similarities between Rahma’s situation and the well-known Madeleine McCann case. Later, in January 2019, the NSW Police increased the reward to $250,000 for any information that could help solve the case.
Different theories
During an inquest, it was revealed that Rahma’s father had a reputation as a drug dealer, and a neighbor claimed to have heard a fight between Rahma’s parents after their daughter accidentally swallowed an ecstasy tablet.
When a picture of Rahma was released, it was of her when she was only 8 months old, which was considered unusual. The police explained that there were not many recent photos of her, and the available one was taken 10 months prior.
Some theories surrounding Rahma’s disappearance suggest that she may have accidentally ingested an ecstasy tablet and tragically d*ed. It is speculated that her parents attempted to conceal the fact that she had passed away. Furthermore, after she went missing, there were alleged recorded conversations of her parents using code language to discuss her disappearance and the investigation. These theories have added to the complexity of the case.
During the inquest, there were various speculations and theories discussed. Some people claimed to have heard others saying that Rahma’s father accidentally k*lled her and buried her on a relative’s farm.
Other ideas included the possibility that she was taken by a known s*x offender in the area or that she was taken to Lebanon and might still be alive there.
The Coroner expressed that Rahma did not simply disappear without a trace. While she didn’t agree with the family’s suggestion that a stranger took their daughter and raised her as their own, she also did not dismiss the possibility that someone might have taken Rahma and raised her.
The Coroner noted that there was no conclusive evidence that the family had faked the kid*apping, but she did find some aspects of their story troubling. Phone intercepts revealed what she described as “puzzling” behavior from the family, especially their jokes and laughter about the kid*apping with third parties and discussions about splitting the reward money. Additionally, specific references to avoiding talking about the inquest on the phone and using code language raised concerns during the investigation.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Disappearance of Rahma el-Dennaoui, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
