THIS is the moment a man who was “kidnapped” almost 30 years ago as a teenager was found in the basement of a neighbor’s house.
Omar Bin Omran disappeared from Djelfa, Algeria when he was only 17 years old.
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Omar Bin Omran disappeared from his hometown of Djelfa at the age of 17
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The man, now 45, was discovered by authorities on Sunday
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Pictures and video show bearded Omar looking terrified
Omar’s family assumed their missing loved one died during the civil war between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups.
That was until Sunday, when Omar – now aged 45 – was discovered in the hay-covered basement of his 61-year-old neighbour.
Shocking footage shows Omar being helped out of the basement where he has allegedly been hidden since 1997, on a property just meters from the family home where he grew up.
In the pictures and video, he is shown in a sweater, with a beard and a desperate expression on his face.
Another horror ‘kidnapping’
Local reports claim that the basement was a covered well on a sheep farm and that Omar was kept under haystacks.
Officials confirmed that they had arrested a 61-year-old man suspected of keeping Omar imprisoned for 27 years.
Public prosecutors in Djelfa said in a statement: “The Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Djelfa informs the public that on May 12 at 20:00 local time, it found a victim, Omar B, aged 45, in the case of his neighbor, BA, aged 61.”
It is assumed that the suspect lives alone and works as a civil servant.
Following the news of the suspect’s arrest, Omar’s family recalled how the teenager’s dog waited on the doorstep of his alleged kidnapper for some time after Omar disappeared – before the dog disappeared too.
Another neighbor told Algerian TV station Bilad: “(Omar’s) poor mum died while he was in captivity without knowing what happened to him, without knowing that he was really with her all that time.”
The husband of missing American Ana Knezevich David has been charged with kidnapping after she disappeared in Spain three months ago
The State Prosecutor’s Office received a complaint, through the regional department of the National Gendarmerie in El Jadid, against an anonymous person who claims that Omar was in the house of one of his neighbors, inside the sheepfold, said a court official in Djelfa.
Unconfirmed local reports said Omar’s family had been alerted to his whereabouts after the brother of his alleged captor revealed details of the “kidnapping” on social media amid an inheritance dispute.
A court official said: “Following this report, the chief prosecutor of the Idrisiya court in Djelfa province ordered the National Gendarmerie to open an in-depth investigation and officers went to the house in question.”
He added: “The State Prosecutor’s Office ordered the provision of medical and psychological assistance to the victim, and the suspect will be taken to the State Attorney’s Office immediately after the investigation is completed.”
Officials promised that the “perpetrator of this heinous crime” would be tried “severely”.
Algerian media reported that the victim was unable to call for help due to a spell placed on him by his alleged captor.
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Omar was discovered by the authorities on a property not far from his family home
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Omar was allegedly kept in a covered well under haystacks on a sheep farm
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Crowds gathered to welcome Omar after he was discovered by authorities on Sunday
The longest cases of ‘kidnapping’ in the world
Police officers in England and Wales in 2022/23. they recorded 7420 kidnappings, which is an increase compared to the previous year.
Here are some of the longest kidnapping cases in the world:
December 4, 1972: Steven Stayner, age seven, was abducted on his way home from school in California and was raised by his captor Kenneth Parnell for seven years, until Parnell abducted another child – Timmy White – in 1980. Both boys escaped 1 March 1980 (encyclopedic entry).
1974: Suzanne Marie Sevakis, five, from North Carolina, was raised by her captor. The truth about her origins was revealed in 1990 when she died in an alleged hit and run.
February 13, 1976: Victoria Montenegro, daughter of People’s Revolutionary Army dissidents, was kidnapped at the age of 13 and raised by an army colonel while her parents were killed. Her true identity was established in 2000 after a DNA test.
May 19, 1977: Colleen Stan, 20, was kidnapped in California while hitchhiking. She was tortured and sexually abused for seven years until her kidnapper Cameron Hooker’s wife helped her escape in 1984.
1978: Doina Bumbea, 28, is believed to have been kidnapped to marry an American defector in North Korea. She died in 1997 from lung cancer.
August 29, 1984: Elisabeth Fritzl, 18, was held captive for 24 years in the basement of her family home in Austria by her father, Josef, who sexually abused her. The abuse led to the birth of seven children and one miscarriage. Elisabeth and her three captive children were freed by Josef in 2008 when one child became seriously ill.
Other cases of children imprisoned by relatives include:
- Alba Nidia Álvarez, Mariquita, Colombia, 25, discovered March 2009.
- Anna, Perryopolis, Pennsylvania, United States, age six, discovered February 6, 1938.
- Blanche Monnier, Poitiers, France, 25 years old
- Drenthe hermit family with six children, Ruinerwold, Netherlands, at least nine years old, revealed in October 2019.
- Elizabeth Wesson, her sisters, her children, her nieces and nephews, Fresno, California, USA, age 26, discovered in 2004.
- Genie, Arcadia, California, United States, age 13, discovered November 4, 1970.
- Jürgen Bartsch, Langenberg, Germany, six years
- “M” and her children, Moe, Victoria, Australia, age 28, discovered in February 2007.
- Laura Mongelli, Turin, Italy, 25 years old
- The case of Lucero, Argentina, 20 years old, discovered in May 2009
- Lydia Gouardo, Val-de-Marne, France, 28 years old
- Rosalynn McGinnis, Missouri, United States, 19, escaped in 2016.
- Incest case in Sheffield, UK, 25 years old, discovered in November 2008
- Schollenberger case, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States, 10 years, discovered May 2020.
- South Wales, UK, South Wales, UK, 20 years old, revealed in 2019, a case of father’s sexual abuse.
- Case Turpin, Perris, California, United States, 29, discovered on January 14, 2018.
- Sisters Viktoria, Katharina and Elisabeth, Linz, Austria, seven years
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education