Omar Bin Omran was rescued from a cellar on Sunday, 26 years after he was kidnapped.
Omar Bin Omran was rescued from a cellar on Sunday, 26 years after he was kidnapped.
A teenager who was kidnapped in 1998 and presumed dead has been found alive 26 years later in his alleged captor’s cellar – less than 200 metres from his family home.
Omar Bin Omran, now 45, was rescued from the cellar on Sunday after he went missing while on his way to vocational school 26 years ago in the Algerian city of Djelfa.
He was found cowering in a sheep pen below his neighbour’s floor, covered in hay.
His family assumed Omar had been killed during the civil war that raged between the Algerian government and Islamist rebel groups for 10 years between the 1990s and 2000s.
Omar Bin Omran was rescued from a cellar on Sunday, 26 years after he was kidnapped.
Footage of the dramatic discovery shows authorities shining a torch into a dark pit surrounded by hay before Omar looks up, seemingly in shock that anyone was looking for him.
Other clips show him emerging from the sheep pen, as well as images of him as a teenager with his dog.
Reporting from Algerian newspaper El Khabar claims his captor killed the dog after it cried for Omar for more than a month near the spot where he was being held captive, having recognised his smell.
The alleged kidnapper is also accused of killing Omar’s dog after it lingered near the home where the teen was being held captive.
A 61-year-old is in police custody in connection with the kidnapping. Media reports say his brother aired grievances on social media about an inheritance dispute, which alerted family and authorities to storm the house in a bid to find Omar.
After Omar was discovered, his alleged captor tried to flee before being restrained and arrested.
A relative said on Facebook: “Thank god my cousin was found. Bin Imran Omar is in good health after 26 years of disappearance. Awaiting details of the case and investigations.”
Omar’s mother died in 2013 without knowing what happened to her son. She never stopped looking for him while she was alive.
Omar was taken to a medical centre for physical and psychological treatment. After being rescued, he reportedly told family members he would sometimes see them through a window in his abductor’s home but could not speak or call out to them, saying it was as if he was under some kind of spell.
The alleged kidnapper is understood to have worked as a civil servant and lived alone. Algerian media suggested he was regularly seen buying enough food for two people.
