Israel searches for missing girl

Police are checking rivers for Rose's body in a case that has shocked Israel

Israeli police divers are scouring a Tel Aviv river for the remains of a four-year-old girl, Rose Pizem, whose grandfather said he killed her.

Ronny Ron, 45, has confessed to killing the girl accidentally and said he put her body in a suitcase, police disclosed after a gag order was lifted.

Israelis have been shocked by the case, which involves an affair between Mr Ron and Rose's mother, his daughter-in-law.

No charges have yet been brought and it is not confirmed that Rose is dead.

However, police said at a news conference that there was a "strong suspicion" that the mother, named as Marie Renault, 23, and Mr Ron, were involved in the violent abuse and murder of the girl.

'Life of neglect'

Mr Ron has confessed, but police say he has repeatedly changed his story

Mr Ron's lawyer said his client admitted hitting Rose when she was in the back seat of his car because she annoyed him. He said he was shocked to find her unconscious, panicked, stuffed her body into the suitcase and dumped it in the Yarkon River.

But police say Mr Ron has changed his story repeatedly, also saying at different points that he had sold the girl to traffickers, sent her to a French convent or to a Jewish seminary.

The search for the blue-eyed, brown-haired girl has gripped the Israeli media and been referred to as the Israeli version of Madeleine McCann - the British girl who went missing in Portugal in 2007.

Rose was first reported missing two weeks ago by Mr Ron's mother, who said she had not seen the child since May.

As the gag order was lifted on Tuesday, the tale emerged of a four-year life of neglect, a custody battle and moves between France and Israel.

Local media reported that Rose was born in France, to teenage parents Marie Renault and Benjamin Pizem.

The couple travelled to Israel in search of Benjamin's father - whom Benjamin had never seen - but, when they met Mr Ron, Marie reportedly fell in love him and decided to remain in Israel.

Rose was reported missing about two weeks ago

Rose and Benjamin Pizem returned to Paris and a custody battle ensued.

Ms Pizem said to have alleged that Rose was hospitalised because of abuse and neglect, and in December 2007 she was returned to Israel to her mother and paternal grandfather.

Mr Ron's mother is reported to have looked after her for much of the following period, until, she says, on 12 May, Mr Ron arrived and took Rose, who has not been seen since.

Police say Mr Ron and Ms Pizem were arrested two weeks ago. They think the suspected murder took place in May.