A man who vanished almost 30 years ago at the age of 17 following an alleged kidnapping has been found alive in his neighbours cellar underneath stacks of hay.
Named as Omar Bin Omran, he is said to have disappeared in the city of Djelfa in Algeria 27 years ago.
His family assumed 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.
The truth literally hit close to home: the missing man is alleged to have been taken prisoner by a 61-year-old neighbour who is now in police custody after Omar, now 45, was found in his basement earlier this week.
Footage was shared on social media and broadcast on Algerian television networks of the moment that Omar was found in what appeared to be a well inside the house of his alleged captor.
Omar Bin Omran as a teenager before he was kidnapped, pictured with two younger relatives (left) and after being found (right)
Footage of Omar being discovered has gone viral on social media. The Arabic caption reads: ‘The moment they found him in their neighbour’s house’
His family is thought to have believed him dead, killed in the Algerian civil war that raged more than 20 years ago
The blurry video shows torchlights shining into a pit surrounded by hay as Omar furtively looks up, seemingly bewildered by 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, and of him as a teenager, sitting with a dog and with young children.
Public prosecutors in Djelfa, a mountain city of around 500,000 people around 140 miles south of coastal capital Algiers, say Omar will receive psychological care after being rescued as they vowed to get him justice.
‘The Djelfa Attorney General’s Office informs the public that on May 12 at 8pm local time it found victim Omar B, aged 45, in the case of his neighbour, B.A., aged 61,’ they said in a statement.
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.
‘The missing person was found and the suspect, the 61-year-old owner of the house was arrested.’
A statement issued by the Albanian Ministry of Justice (pictured) promised that Omar would receive psychological care, and vowed the perpetrator would be tried with ‘severity’
Footage shows what locals said was the scene of Omar’s discovery in Djelfa, Algeria, lit up by emergency vehicle lights
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.’
The man held is understood to work as a civil servant and lived alone.
A neighbour of the man abducted told Algerian TV station Bilad: ‘His poor mum died while he was in captivity, without knowing what had happened to him, without knowing that all this time he was really right beside her.’
A statement from the Algerian Ministry of Justice suggested the victim’s family had been tipped off about Omar’s whereabouts after the alleged captor’s brother aired grievances on social media during an inheritance dispute.
Mystery abounds as to why Omar did not call for help in the almost three decades he was held captive.
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.
