A man who was allegedly kidnapped and held captive by his neighbor for 26 years just 100 meters from his home is in “good health” but remains distraught after being freed earlier this week, his family said.
Omar Bin Omran, from El Guedid, near Djelfa, 240 kilometers south of Algiers, was just 19 years old when he disappeared in 1998 while on his way to a vocational school at the height of Algeria’s civil war, raising fears among his family that he had been killed.
But the truth was right under the noses of his grieving family the entire time: Omar, now 45, was found in a sheep pen, covered in bales of hay by his family after they broke into the neighbor’s house following a notice on social networks.
Speaking to the Algerian media, the cousin of the missing man, Khaled Reggab, said that his relative was not in a “critical” condition, but that he was “shocked, more than shocked” to have spent more than a quarter of a century in captivity. .
Reggab appeared to confirm stories reported elsewhere that Omar’s dog had pined for him outside the neighbor’s house for two weeks after his disappearance, before allegedly being killed by the captor to silence his whining.
Omar Bin Omran was found in a sheep pen in El Guedid, Algeria, earlier this week after 26 years in captivity.
Omar is portrayed as a young man of the age at which he disappeared in 1998. His family believed he was killed in the civil war.
Images of Omar’s discovery have gone viral on social media. The title in Arabic reads: “At the time they found him in his neighbor’s house.”
And he added that the family was left in “catastrophic” shock after the news that Omar was alive, more than a decade after his mother died without ever knowing the truth.
“I have no information about him, but from what I saw, his health is good, not critical,” Reggab said. Echorouk News.
‘His psychological state is shock, and more than shock, he is afraid, especially since he was detained, which means he is not used to being (outside).
‘Omar is still undergoing therapeutic and psychological care at this time. I see them (his family) in catastrophic shock.”
The story of the missing man has shocked the world after it was first reported earlier this week.
He was discovered on May 12 after a relative of the alleged captor posted on social media, supposedly after an inheritance dispute, to say he was in the house.
His family broke into the residence, just yards from theirs, and found the shocked man, now 45, under a pile of hay. The alleged culprit, a 61-year-old doorman who worked in El Guedid, was arrested after trying to flee.
“This is a real tragedy and we thank God for having been able to find our son,” one of Bin Omran’s uncles, Karim Rgueb, told local media outlet El Djazair N1 in statements reported by The National.
Reggab confirmed some aspects of the story, including that a dog belonging to the family was killed two weeks after Omar disappeared. The culprit is suspected to be Omar’s kidnapper, and it is believed that he killed him to silence his complaints outside his home.
Omar’s cousin continued: ‘The owner of the property is using it because it is a stable. It’s about 100 meters away, just 100 meters (away) on the same street.
“The dog was frequenting the home of the owner of this residence for more than a week – and this story was confirmed by all of Omar’s friends and even those closest to the family – until he was killed two weeks later.”
Those who read Omar’s story have asked questions about why, in more than 25 years, he did not try to escape. Algerian media have reported that he is said to have told his relatives that he was under a “spell.”
Mr Reggab said: ‘This matter is baffling. The (sheep pen) belongs to the residence and has some sheep. It has piles of hay and Omar was covered in all this hay.
‘Even when we asked him why you didn’t scream or try to resist or leave the house etc., his answer was very simple. She literally said, “I couldn’t walk or talk.”
Omar came from the town of El Guedid, near Djelfa, about 240 kilometers south of the Algerian capital, Algiers.
This is the area where they found Omar. His cousin said he had been kept in a “warehouse” type building that was used to keep sheep.
Locals were seen gathering on the street near where the discovery was made earlier this week.
Algeria’s Justice Ministry said the investigation was still ongoing, adding that the victim was receiving medical and psychological care after the crime which it called “atrocious.”
Tragically, Omar’s mother died in 2013 without ever knowing the truth of what happened to her son. She had asked on television for information about what happened to her son, according to an Algerian newspaper. The expression.
Reggab said that, contrary to previous reports, Omar did not learn that his mother had died while in captivity.
He added: “She said: ‘I still feel that my son is in… El Guedid’. It was a great sadness even though she had the feeling that her son was not far from her.’
A neighbor of the kidnapped man told Algerian television Bilad: “His poor mother died while he was in captivity, without knowing what had happened to her, without knowing that all this time he was really next to her.”
Prosecutors in Djelfa, a mountain town of around 500,000 people about 140 miles south of the coastal capital, Algiers, say Omar will receive psychological care after being rescued, as they vowed to give him justice.
“The Djelfa Prosecutor General’s Office informs the public that on May 12 at 8 p.m. local time it found the victim Omar B, 45 years old, in the case of his neighbor, BA, 61 years old,” they said in a statement. .
His family is believed to have believed him dead, killed in the Algerian civil war that broke out more than 20 years ago. Relatives claim that the dog was poisoned after he began to smell Omar’s scent nearby.
The case of Omar’s discovery, more than a quarter of a century after his alleged kidnapping, could mean that he is one of the captives who has been held the longest in the world.
A statement issued by Algeria’s Ministry of Justice (pictured) promised that Omar would receive psychological care and promised that the perpetrator would be tried “severely.”
A judicial official from Djelfa was quoted as saying: “Two days ago, on May 12, 2024, the Prosecutor’s Office received, through the regional department of the National Gendarmerie in El Jadid, a complaint against an anonymous person who claimed that the brother of the complainant, Omar Bin Omran, missing for about 30 years, is found at the house of one of his neighbors, inside a sheepfold.
‘Following this report, the Prosecutor General of the Court of Idrisiya, in the province of Djelfa, ordered the National Gendarmerie to open an in-depth investigation and the agents went to the house in question.
“The missing person was found and the suspect, the 61-year-old homeowner, was arrested.”
He added: ‘The Public Ministry ordered that the victim receive medical and psychological treatment, and the suspect will be presented to the Public Ministry immediately after the investigation is completed.’
The authorities have promised that the “perpetrator of this heinous crime” will be judged “severely.”
The detained man is believed to work as a civil servant and live alone, but Algerian media suggested he was regularly seen buying enough food for two people.
Algeria’s civil war dragged on for a decade starting in 1992, as the government attempted to repel attacks by armed Islamist rebel groups following a military coup on the eve of the country’s elections.
