Algeria’s justice ministry revealed on Tuesday that a man, identified as Omar B., who had been missing for 26 years, was discovered in his neighbor’s house just a few minutes’ walk from his own.
Omar B. disappeared at the age of 19 during the Algerian Civil War in 1998, leaving his family to assume he had been kidnapped or killed.
Now aged 45, he was found amid haystacks approximately 200 meters away in Djelfa city after the captor’s brother voiced grievances on social media, purportedly due to an inheritance dispute.
The alleged captor, a 61-year-old doorman at the municipality in El Guedid town nearby, was apprehended after an attempted escape, according to the ministry.
Reports from Algerian media suggested the victim claimed he couldn’t seek help due to a “spell” cast by his captor.
The ministry stated the investigation remains ongoing, emphasizing that the victim is receiving medical and psychological care following what it termed a “heinous” crime.
