Algeria: Teen kidnapped 26 years ago rescued from neighbor's cellar
An Algerian man who was kidnapped as a teenager in 1998 was found alive on Sunday in a cellar just 300 feet from his family home. The now 45-year-old Omar Bin Omran was discovered beneath a hay-covered floor serving as a sheep pen. His alleged abductor, a 61-year-old male who lived alone, has been arrested, according to the Djelfa Attorney General's Office. Omran left his family home in Djelfa city in 1998 to attend a vocational school but never returned.
Social media tip-off leads to victim's discovery
Omran's disappearance led his family to suspect he was killed during a civil war between the Algerian government and Islamist rebels. The investigation into the teenager's kidnapping was reopened after the suspect's brother suggested on social media that his sibling was involved in Omran's kidnapping. This disclosure was made during a dispute over inheritance between the two brothers. Following this tip, the National Gendarmerie searched the suspect's home and found Omran behind a trapdoor hidden under hay on the floor.
Additional charges and victim's post-rescue treatment
The attorney general's office said Omran was taken to a hospital for treatment, and the suspect would be arrested for the "heinous crime." In addition to kidnapping, the suspect is accused of killing Omran's dog, which was found poisoned outside the victim's family home. The captor is suspected of killing Omran's dog, as it kept lurking around his house for a month after the teenager's disappearance.
Video of Omran's rescue
Victim's mother never stopped searching
In his first interaction with his family members, Omran reportedly told them that he would sometimes see them walking by through a window in his abductor's home but was unable to speak or call out to them. According to Algerian media, the victim claimed he was unable to seek help "because of a spell that his captor had cast on him." His mother, who passed away in 2013, never stopped searching for him.
