Man Who Went Missing Nearly 30 Years Ago Aged 17 Found Alive In Neighbour's House

• Omar Bin Omran was headed to college 27 years ago when he went missing along the way, leaving behind no clues regarding his whereabouts
• His family tried searching for him in vain, after which they resigned to fate, concluding that he was dead
• The family of the now-45-year-old was shocked to discover their son had been kidnapped by a neighbour and had been alive all along

Omar Bin Omran (or Imran) was only 17 years old when he went missing nearly 30 years ago while on his way to a vocational school.

It is difficult to imagine that the alleged kidnapper was a next-door neighbour who kept him buried, the New York Post reports.

Family concluded Imran died

The family was overjoyed when he was found alive in a hole in the ground in a sheep pen underneath stacks of hay.

Born in a family of nine children, Imran disappeared in the city of Djelfa in Algeria 27 years ago, making the family believe he was dead.

According to his relatives, they assumed the kin had been killed during the civil war in the 1990s and early 2000s between Algeria's government and Islamist rebel groups.

They were shocked when the missing man was found in his neighbour's house less than 200 metres away from that of his own family.

Imram was living underground

Footage shared on social media showed him in what appeared to be an underground sheep pen in his alleged captor's compound.

Imram, now aged 45, was found amid haystacks after the captor's brother shared the story on social media as a result of an inheritance dispute.

The blurry video shows Imram shocked to see the search party surrounding him, stray pieces of straw in his hair.

Details indicate that the suspected kidnapper, a 61-year-old man, attempted to flee but was restrained and then arrested.

Imram to undergo counselling

Tragically, Imram's mother died in 2013 without ever knowing that her son was alive, but reports suggest the missing man was made aware of his mother's death whilst in captivity.

"Thank god my cousin was found. Bin Imran Omar is in good health after 26 years of disappearance. Awaiting details of the case and investigations," a relative wrote on Facebook.

Public prosecutors in Djelfa, a mountain city of around 500,000 people around 140 miles south of coastal capital Algiers, said the lost and found man will undergo psychological counselling as his family seeks to pursue justice over the alleged kidnapping.

Former street boy seeks to reunite with family

In a different story, David Ouma was five years old when he and his friends jumped on a truck and ended up in Kisumu, where he became a street boy.

He was raised by a guardian who took him through school but has now asked him to find his biological family.

The second-year student at Maseno University says he left home while still too young to remember the details.

He knows only that his mother’s name is Irene, and she is from Gem, Siaya. She used to sell fish at Kendu Junction.

Proofreading by Nyambura Guthua, journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke