A man who reportedly vanished almost 30 years ago at the age of 17 following an alleged kidnapping has been found alive in his neighbour’s cellar underneath stacks of hay.
Omar Bin Omran (or Imran) is one of nine children, he is believed to have disappeared in the city of Djelfa in Algeria 27 years ago.
How He Was Found
His family believed he had been killed during the civil war between the North African nation’s government and Islamist rebel groups that raged for 10 years in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Meanwhile, he was much closer to home: the missing man was found in his neighbour’s house 200 metres away from that of his own family.
A 61-year-old is now in police custody after Omar, now 45, was rescued on May 12.
How He Escaped
Footage was shared on social media and broadcast on Algerian television networks of the moment that he was found in what appeared to be a well inside the house of his alleged captor.
The blurry video shows torchlights shining into a pit surrounded by hay as Omar furtively looks up, seemingly in shock at the search party surrounding him, stray pieces of straw in his hair.
Other images have since been circulated of the bearded man emerging from the hole, thought to be a sheep pen, and of him as a teenager, sitting with a dog and with young children before he disappeared.
Reporting from Algerian newspaper El Khabar suggests the dog pined for him close to the spot where he was being held, having recognised his smell. It was alleged in its report that the captor poisoned the dog to ward the family off.
How He Got Missing
A search was launched for Omar in 1998 after he went missing while on his way to a vocational school.
Now aged 45, he was found amid haystacks after the captor’s brother aired grievances on social media, reportedly due to an inheritance dispute.
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According to the newspaper, this prompted the family to storm the house in a search for Omar. When they found him, his alleged captor attempted to flee before being restrained and then arrested.
Tragically, Omar’s mother died in 2013 without ever knowing the truth of what happened to her son. Reports suggest Omar was made aware of his mother’s death whilst in captivity.
