Man Who Vanished 27 Years Ago Aged 17 Discovered Alive In Neighbor’s Cellar
Nearly thirty years after he vanished at just 17 years old, Omar Bin Omran, a young man thought to be a victim of Algeria’s violent civil war, has reappeared.
Amazingly, he was found just a few steps from his family’s home, hidden in a neighbor’s basement.
The real story came to light when Omar, who is now 45 years old, was found hiding under piles of hay in a makeshift sheep pen, as described by the authorities.
Omar Bin Omran disappeared in the Algerian city of Djelfa 27 years ago when he was a teenager.
His family thought he had died in the civil war that lasted for 10 years in the 1990s and early 2000s, where the government of the North African country fought against different Islamist rebel groups.
They couldn’t believe it when they found out that the man had been trapped only 200 meters from his house the whole time, hidden in a hole in a neighbor’s sheep pen.
According to the BBC, the public prosecutor’s office got a report about an unknown person saying that Omar was at a neighbor’s house.
A court official mentioned, “After hearing this report, the general prosecutor instructed the national gendarmerie to start a detailed investigation, and the officers went to the house involved.”
Khaled Rgueb, who is Omar’s cousin, talked about how shocked the family was when they found out that Omar was still alive.
Rgueb told Echorouk News that they discovered him in a barn, where the suspect stores his sheep, with the cellar trapdoor hidden under some hay, and he was really lucky to be rescued.
I don’t know much about him, but from what I observed, he seems to be in good health and not in a serious situation.
He is really shaken up and scared, especially after being held captive, which is something he’s not used to at all.
“Omar is still under therapeutic and psychological care at this minute. I see them (his family) in a catastrophic shock.”
Algerian news says that Omar told his family he couldn’t get away because he thought he was under a ‘spell,’ according to Metro.
Footage of his rescue shows Omar looking confused and unkempt.
Reports say that Omar told his family he saw them walking by the place where he was being kept against his will.
He said he couldn’t contact them because he thought his supposed kidnapper had put him under some kind of magical control.
El Khabar, a news source from Algeria, shared that after Omar went missing, his faithful dog stayed close to the neighbor’s house for a long time.
The newspaper claims that the person believed to have taken the dog ended up poisoning it to try to stop the family from looking for their pet in that location.
The discovery came more than a decade after his mother passed away, never knowing what had happened to her son.
According to the Evening Standard, a neighbor shared with the Algerian TV station Bilad: “His unfortunate mother passed away while he was held captive, completely unaware of what had happened to him, not knowing that he was actually so close to her the whole time.”
The 61-year-old man, who was a suspect, tried to run away when he was found out, but he was held back and then taken into custody.
The Algerian government has reported that they have arrested six people as suspects, and two more are under judicial supervision, which means they can stay out of jail while they go through the trial process.
Algeria’s Judicial Council announced that they have started a legal investigation into the main suspect. They are looking into charges of kidnapping, tricking someone, holding a person without proper permission, and human trafficking involving a victim who is in a vulnerable situation.
Officials had called the crime ‘terrible’ and mentioned that the investigation is still in progress, according to BBC.
They promised the ‘perpetrator of this heinous crime ‘will be tried with severity.’
Right now, Omar is getting special treatment as he starts his path to getting better.
NEW: Man who disappeared 27 years ago at the age of 17, found alive 200 meters from his family's home in a neighbor's cellar.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 15, 2024
Insane.
Omar Bin Omran of Algeria disappeared 27 years ago. He went missing in 1998 on his way to a vocational school.
A 61-year-old is in police… pic.twitter.com/idkvSCykmh
