Omar Bin Omran was 19 when he left his home in Al-Qadid, Algeria, heading to school. It was 1998. He never arrived. For 26 years, his family searched for him, mourned him, and finally presumed him dead.
The truth was just 200 meters away. A 61-year-old neighbor had kept him hidden in his basement, among bales of hay, all that time. When the police arrived at the home, the man tried to flee, but was arrested on the spot.
What was most disturbing came afterward, in Omar’s own account: he said he believed he was under some kind of spell cast by his captor, something that prevented him from reacting or asking for help despite being so close to his loved ones. His mother died in 2013 without ever stopping waiting for him. He was still there, just steps away, all that time.
