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Topics: Crime, World News
Mia Williams
A man who had been missing for 27 years was found held captive by his neighbor just minutes away from his home.
An Algerian man known as Omar B was found at his neighbor's house just a few minutes walk away from his own home after being missing for 26 years.
He had vanished at the age of 17 during the Algerian Civil War in 1997, and his family had just presumed that he had been kidnapped or killed.
Now aged 45 all those years later, he was found in haystacks about 200 meters from his family home in the city of Djelfa.
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Shocking footage shows Omar being helped out of the hay-covered cellar in which he had been held captive in since 1997.
He was shown in video footage appearing to have a desperate look on his face.
He was found after the captors brother reportedly aired information of the kidnapping on social media, following an alleged inheritance dispute between the pair.
The alleged culprit is a 61-year-old doorman in the nearby town of El Guedid, and has been remanded in custody after attempting to flee the scene.
The suspect is said to have lived alone, and worked as a civil servant.
The media has since reported that Omar B felt he couldn’t speak out about what his captor had done, because of a ‘spell’ that had been cast on him.
The country’s justice ministry said that there is an investigation which is currently ongoing.
They added that the victim is receiving medical and psychological care after being subject to a crime that has been described as ‘heinous’.
A neighbor told Algerian TV station Bilad: "(Omar's) poor mum died while he was in captivity, without knowing what had happened to him, without knowing that all this time he was really right beside her."
A court official said: “Following this report the General Prosecutor of the Court of Idrisiya in the province of Djelfa ordered the National Gendarmerie to open an in-depth investigation and officers went to the house in question.
“The Public Prosecutor's Office ordered that the victim receive medical and psychological treatment, and the suspect will be presented to the Public Prosecutor's Office immediately after the completion of the investigation."
Officials have promised that such a despicable crime will be tried in court with ‘severity’.