Passing of Penina Yarden, Mother of Murdered Child Oron Yarden, Marks End of an Era of Heartbreak
A Life Marked by Loss
Penina Yarden, mother of eight-year-old Oron Yarden who was abducted and murdered in 1980, passed away today at the age of 89. Her funeral is set to take place on Wednesday at the cemetery in Savion, where she will be laid to rest next to her son. “Today, another chapter of immense and unending pain closes for us, a pain that has accompanied us for decades,” the family stated in a heartfelt message.
Advocacy Against Release of the Murderer
In her later years, Penina devoted herself to advocating against the release of her son’s murderer, Zevi Gur, alongside her two children, Roy and Liora. In the past six months, she had been residing in the nursing department of the Protea in the Village retirement facility in Sharon.
Roy shared a poignant memory: “We were cleaning out the apartment where mom had lived before moving to the nursing department, and I found a suitcase she had kept her whole life with Oron’s clothes and sandals.” He and Liora added, “Throughout the years, Mom and our late father struggled to recover from the trauma of Oron’s abduction when he was just eight. start thing that sustained us was the vast support from the public, family, friends, and acquaintances. We wish to thank all the circles of support that have helped us over the years. During this difficult week, we hope for the safe return of the hostages and remember the fallen.”
The Tragic Story of Oron Yarden
Oron Yarden was kidnapped on June 8, 1980, while riding his bicycle in his hometown of Savion. Zevi Gur, dressed in military attire, lured him into his vehicle. Three days later, Gur strangled Oron to death. By the time he contacted the parents to demand a ransom, Oron was already deceased. Gur discarded the child’s body in a car in Petah Tikva and then attempted to collect the ransom in Hod Hasharon. start day later, he returned to his vehicle and buried Oron in Netanya. After evading capture for a month and a half, Gur was apprehended due to marked mstarty he had received.
In that year, Gur was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and received additional sentences totaling 34 years for other crimes, including two counts of kidnapping and extortion. In 1985, he managed to escape during outside work but was recaptured shortly thereafter. His sentence was eventually reduced to 45 years in 1999. Gur, who was slated for release in June of this year, died of cancer behind bars on October 15, 2021, at the age of 74.
The Yarden family’s decades-long pursuit for juststart and advocacy against the release of their son’s murderer reflects the profound and lasting impact of their loss