Omar Bin Omran was believed to be dead- but was instead being held prisoner just metres away from his family home.
A man who vanished nearly 30 years ago has been found living just metres away from his family home after being ‘kidnapped’ by his neighbour.
The victim, named only as Omar Bin Omran, disappeared in the Algerian city of Djelfa 27 years ago when he was just 17 years old.
His family assumed he had died during the civil war between the North African country’s government and various Islamist rebel groups, which raged for 10 years in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
But it turned out the entire time he had been living just 200m away, in a hole in the ground covered by stacks of hay underneath his neighbour’s sheep pen.
Algerian newspaper El Khabar suggests Omar’s family dog recognised his smell and pined for him close to the spot where he was being held, and was poisoned by his captor in attempt to ward the family off.
Blurry video footage of him being rescued shows authorities shining torchlights into the pit where Omar was being held captive, while he looks up at them in bewilderment.
Other images have since shown of the bearded man, now 45 and looking dishevelled, emerging from the hole, contrasted with pictures of him looking fresh-faced as a teenager, sitting with two young children before his disappearance.
Local authorities have confirmed a 61-year-old man, believed to be a civil servant, has been arrested in connection with the alleged kidnapping.
Omar vanished in 1998 while on his way to school.
He was finally discovered after his captor’s brother aired grievances on social media, reportedly due to an inheritance dispute.
According to the newspaper, this prompted Omar’s family to storm the house in a desperate attempt to find him. When he was finally discovered, his alleged captor attempted to flee before being restrained and then arrested.
Omar’s mother tragically died without ever knowing of her son’s fate, but local reports suggest he was informed of her fate by his captor.
A court official in Djelfa was quoted as saying: ‘Two days ago, on 12 May 2024, the Public Prosecutor’s Office received, through the regional department of the National Gendarmerie in El Jadid, a complaint against an anonymous person claiming that the complainant’s brother, Omar bin Omran, who has been missing for about 30 years, is in the house of one of his neighbours, inside a sheepfold.
‘Following this report the General Prosecutor of the Court of Idrisiya in the province of Djelfa ordered the National Gendarmerie to open an in-depth investigation and officers went to the house in question.’
He added: ‘The Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered that the victim receive medical and psychological treatment, and the suspect will be presented to the Public Prosecutor’s Office immediately after the completion of the investigation.’
Officials have promised the ‘perpetrator of this heinous crime’ will be tried with ‘severity.’
Algerian media have reported Omar said he had been unable to call out for help because of a spell his alleged abductor had cast on him.
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