Constantin Dumitrachescu, the Rumanian diplomat who disappeared after completing his tour of duty in Israel two weeks ago, may have defected for love, according to a theory advanced here by people who knew the 47-year-old official.
Dumitrachescu was known around Tel Aviv as a high-living, hard-drinking man who enjoyed good food, good company and good entertainment. A Tel Aviv jeweler revealed that the diplomat had ordered gold trinkets from him, saying that they were for his wife but requesting the jeweler to keep the purchase a secret from Mrs. Dumitrachescu. She and their two daughters left Israel over a month ago, while he stayed on to break in his successor to the job of First Secretary at the Rumanian Embassy. Dumitrachescu was last seen boarding a plane at Lydda Airport on June 23, ostensibly to join his family in Rumania. He has not been heard from since. The Rumanian government has asked Jerusalem to investigate his disappearance but authorities here had no clues to his whereabouts.
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