2 Bodies Identified as Pair Missing Since Thanksgiving : North Hollywood: Police confirm that remains found near Victorville are those of men who disappeared after stopping at Encino deli to collect on a debt.

Los Angeles police confirmed Thursday that a pair of bodies discovered near Victorville this week belong to two North Hollywood men who disappeared Thanksgiving Day after stopping at Jerry’s Famous Deli in Encino to collect on a debt.

Family and friends of Eliyahu (Eli) Asaraf, 32, and Prosper Revah, 39, suspected foul play following their disappearance and had combed the hills of the San Fernando Valley, posted flyers and even hired a private investigator in an effort to locate the men.

The search ended abruptly when police announced late Wednesday that the two men had been found dead in a desolate area of San Bernardino County.

Scavengers discovered the bodies Tuesday evening at Palmdale Road and Baldy Mesa, near Victorville, said Dick Ebel, a deputy coroner with the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Department.

Autopsies were scheduled for Thursday, but results were not available.

Asaraf and Revah, who operated a wholesale clothing business together, had apparently gone to the Encino restaurant on Thanksgiving Day to collect a $2,000 debt owed by an unidentified business associate for clothing sold on consignment, police and family said.

The meeting was set for about 6 p.m., but Asaraf phoned home and told his wife that the associate was going to be an hour late, said Cobi Asaraf, Eli Asaraf’s older brother. Neither of the men was heard from after that, and repeated attempts to page Asaraf were unsuccessful.

The associate that the two men planned to meet said Asaraf and Revah never showed up for the appointment, said Cobi Asaraf.

The only clues to emerge since their disappearance are a withdrawal made from Eli Asaraf’s bank account through an automated teller machine on Thanksgiving night and the discovery Nov. 30 of a rental car the men had been driving, at a Los Angeles International Airport parking lot.

Eli Asaraf is survived by his wife and 11-month-old son. Revah is survived by his wife, two young daughters and a son, Cobi Asaraf said. He added that his brother immigrated to the United States in 1987 from Israel to join him and his mother in the United States.

In an interview last month, Cobi Asaraf said he was certain something bad had happened to his brother, whom he described as the type of man who would call home every 30 minutes to check on his wife and baby son.

“He was tough on the outside but really a little kid inside,” he said. “He was a good man, he had a good heart and he was very sensitive.”