On 22 September 1997, Freddy Tello was reported missing by his mother. Police investigation of the missing-persons report revealed that Tello had told friends that he would meet them at the Plaza del Mercado shopping center in Silver Spring along with Needle and Sheinbein, but never showed up. Dental records of Tello were used by investigators to identify the victim. According to police reports, the suspects fled to New York City. Needle was arrested on 23 September 1997, but he committed suicide in April 1998 two days before jury selection for the trial by hanging himself with a bedsheet. Israel Flight to Israel Sheinbein evaded apprehension by Maryland police and fled to Israel Once Sheinbein was in Israel, On September 25, 1997, he survived an overdose of sleeping pills and wine in what was thought to have been a suicide attempt. Police found an apparent suicide letter to his family in his hotel room, and Sheinbein was placed in a psychiatric hospital. Sheinbein was arrested, and U.S. authorities were notified of his presence in Israel. In an attempt to avoid extradition, Sheinbein claimed and received Israeli citizenship as the son of an Israeli national through his father, who had been born in Mandatory Palestine and emigrated from Israel at age six. Extradition fight The U.S. Justice Department submitted an extradition request to Israel, and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright pressed for "maximum cooperation". Israeli Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein opened extradition proceedings against Sheinbein. A protracted legal battle in the Israeli courts ensued as Sheinbein fought extradition. Sheinbein's family hired former Israeli Justice Minister David Libai to serve on his defense team. This resulted in a severe strain in U.S.–Israeli relations and outrage from the Latino-American community. Congress threatened to withhold aid to Israel. Extradition hearings began in the Jerusalem District Court, presided over by Judge Moshe Ravid. In February 1998, Ravid offered a compromise where Sheinbein would return voluntarily to the United States to stand trial, and if convicted, could return to Israel to serve his prison sentence. Sheinbein accepted the idea, but Maryland prosecutors rejected it. In September 1998, Ravid ruled that Sheinbein could be extradited because he had no meaningful connections to the State of Israel, used a U.S. passport, and had never lived in Israel, thus was insufficiently a citizen deserving protection under Israeli law. The district court's decision was appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court.