An Algerian man, abducted as a teenager and held captive for nearly three decades, was found in a neighbour’s basement, just 300 feet from the victim’s family home.
Omar Bin Omran was rescued on Sunday, May 12, 2024, from the home of his longtime captor in the Algerian city of Djelfa. The 45-year-old victim was found alive in the 61-year-old homeowner’s basement, beneath a hay-covered floor in what appeared to be a sheep pen.
According to a statement from public prosecutors in Djelfa, “The Djelfa Attorney General’s Office informs the public that on May 12 at 8pm local time it found victim Omar B, aged 45, in the case of his neighbour, B.A., aged 61.” Omar was just 17-year-old when he vanished without a trace on his way to a vocational school and was allegedly hidden in his neighbour’s property, just yards from his family’s home.
The abductor, who worked as a government employee, lived alone at the property. Local reports indicated that the cellar where Omar was found was a well on a sheep farm.
Omar’s family had presumed him dead after his disappearance during Algeria’s civil war between the government and various Islamist rebel groups. At the time, his family noticed that his dog lingered outside the accused neighbor’s house, unaware that Omar was trapped inside. About a month later, the dog was found dead, believed to have been poisoned by the abductor.
Despite the years without any trace of Omar, his mother refused to believe he had died in the civil war. She passed away in 2013 with one last wish: “Please, do not stop searching for Omar. I am sure he is still alive,” she said, according to the New York Post. Some reports revealed that Omar knew about his mother’s death from his captor.
