Cousin of Algerian man kidnapped and held captive by his neighbour for 26 years ... trends now
A man who was allegedly kidnapped and held captive by his neighbour for 26 years just 100 metres from home is in 'good health' but remains shocked after being freed earlier this week, his family said.
Omar Bin Omran, from El Guedid near Djelfa, 150 miles south of Algiers, was just 19 when he disappeared in 1998 on his way to a vocational school at the height of Algeria's civil war, prompting fears amongst his family that he had been killed.
But the truth was under his grieving family's nose the entire time: now 45, a bearded Omar was found in a sheep pen, covered by bales of hay by his family after they stormed the neighbour's house following a tip-off on social media.
Speaking to Algerian media, the missing man's cousin Khaled Reggab said his relative was not in a 'critical' state but that he is 'shocked, more than shocked' having spent more than a quarter of a century in captivity.
Mr Reggab appeared to confirm stories reported elsewhere that Omar's dog had pined for him outside the neighbour's home for two weeks after he went missing - before allegedly being killed by the captor to silence its whines.
Omar Bin Omran at the moment he was found in a sheep pen in El Guedid, Algeria, earlier this week after 26 years of being held captive
Omar pictured as a young man around the age at which he disappeared in 1998. His family believed he was killed in the civil war
Footage of Omar being discovered has gone viral on social media. The Arabic caption reads: 'The moment they found him in their neighbour's house'
And he added that the family was in a 'catastrophic' shock following the news that Omar was alive - which came more than a decade after his mother died without ever knowing the truth.
'I have no information about him but according to what I saw his health condition is good, it is not critical,' Mr Reggab told "Echorouk News.
'His psychological state is shocked, and more than shocked, he is afraid, especially since he was detained, meaning he is not accustomed to being (outside).
'Omar is still under therapeutic and psychological care at this minute. I see them (his family) in a catastrophic shock.'
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Man who was kidnapped aged 19 and discovered 26 YEARS later had only been a few minutes' walk from his family's home the whole time but never cried out for help because he was convinced his captor had 'cast a magic spell on him'
The missing man's story has shocked the world after it was first reported earlier this week.
He was discovered on May 12 after a relative of the alleged captor posted on social media, reportedly following an inheritance dispute, to say he was at the house.
His family stormed the residence, just yards from their own, and found the shocked man, now 45, beneath a pile of hay. The alleged culprit, a 61-year-old doorman working in El Guedid, was taken into custody after attempting to flee.
'This is a true tragedy and we thank God that we were able to find our son,' one of Mr bin Omran's uncles, Karim Rgueb, told local media outlet El Djazair N1 in remarks reported by The National.
Mr Reggab confirmed some aspects of the story - including that a dog belonging to the family was killed two weeks after Omar went missing. The culprit is suspected to be Omar's kidnapper, thought to have killed it to silence its whines outside his home.
Omar's cousin continued: 'The property owner is using it on the basis that it is a stable. He is about 100 metres, only 100 metres (away) on the same street.
'The dog was frequenting the house of the owner of this residence for more than a week - and this story was confirmed by all of Omar's
