A shocking story in Algeria has been going around the world for the last few hours. A teenager whodisappeared in 1998 was found alive over the weekend in the basement of his alleged captor’s home – about 100 to 200 meters from his family’s residence.
Omar Bin Omran was rescued on Sunday from the home of his longtime captor after he disappeared on his way to school some 26 years ago, according to Algerian media reports.
Omar is now 45 and has a beard, and a video posted on social media reportedly shows him looking confused.
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.
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
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 15, 2024
The accused abductor, a 61-year-old man who lived alone, was taken into custody, according to the Djelfa Attorney General’s office, as noted by the New York Post.
Investigators were reportedly alerted by the victim’s family after the suspect’s brother suggested he was involved in the kidnapping in a social media post while the two were fighting over inheritance.
During the search at the man’s house a hatch was discovered hidden under straw on the floor. They found Omar behind her.
Omar was taken over by doctors, while the suspect will stand trial for the “heinous crime,” the attorney general’s office said.
The teenager’s alleged kidnapper has also been accused of killing the victim’s dog, according to Algerian reports. The dog remained around the suspect’s home for a full month after Omar’s disappearance. A short time later, the dog’s body was found in front of Omar’s family home and it was believed to have been poisoned.
Teen kidnapped 26 years ago rescued from neighbor’s cellar just 100 meters from Algerian home pic.twitter.com/NLkPBknKzq
— New York Post (@nypost) May 16, 2024
Omar’s mother, who never stopped searching for her missing son – one of her nine children – died in 2013. While other family members believed he was killed during the country’s civil war in the 1990s and early 2000s, his mother felt inside that he was still alive.
She is reported to have said shortly before she died: “Please don’t stop looking for Omar. I’m sure he’s alive.”
The victim, after his release, told his relatives that he sometimes saw them through a small window walking past the place where he was imprisoned, but he could not speak to them or call out to them, as he felt that he was under the influence of someone substance.
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