The heartbreaking case of Omar bin Omran stumped both crime experts and historians for years.

The man first hit headlines in his home country of Algeria almost three decades ago, following his sudden disappearance.

He was first reported missing by his loved ones in the late 1990s, in the midst of the country’s civil war.

The battle waged on for 10 years, between the 90s and early 00s, following a military intervention to prevent the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) from taking power of the country following its victory during the first round of the parliamentary elections in 1991.

With families being torn apart across the North African country, following Omran’s disappearance from his home in Djelfa, his parents suspected he’d either been kidnapped or killed in the turmoil of war.

It wasn’t until May last year – 27 years after his family last laid eyes on the man – that he was finally discovered in his own hometown.

A now 45-year-old Omran had been kept inside a hay-covered cellar underneath his neighbour’s property, just 200 yards away from the home he grew up in.

Unnerving footage doing the rounds on social media after being aired on Algerian television networks shows the missing man being rescued.

In the clip, Omran – who has a full beard – blinks rapidly in a state of confusion as authorities shine daylight into his face.

Wearing a torn sweater, he is then seen being pulled up from what looks like a hole in the ground.

Police don’t believe Omran ever called for help from his captivity, having been convinced that his captor had placed him ‘under a spell’.

The alleged kidnapper was a 61-year-old doorman from the nearby town of El Guedid.

He was arrested at the scene after attempting to flee.

Omran’s family feared he’d been kidnapped or killed as part of the civil war (EnnaharTV)

“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 neighbor, B.A., aged 61,” Djelfa public prosecutors said in a statement, as per The Sun.

While not yet confirmed, local reports claim that Omran’s family had learned of his whereabouts through the brother of the alleged kidnapper, who is said to have discussed the abduction on social media.

At the time, a court official in Djelfa said: “Following this report, the General Prosecutor of the Court of Idrisiya in the province of Djelfa ordered the National Gendarmerie to open an in-depth investigation and officers went to the house in question.

“The missing person was found and the suspect, the 61-year-old owner of the house was arrested.”

The man was found aged 45 (Ennahar TV)

They added: “The Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered that the victim receive medical and psychological treatment, and the suspect will be presented to the Public Prosecutor’s Office immediately after the completion of the investigation.”

The statement said that the ‘perpetrator of this heinous crime’ would go to trial with ‘severity’.

Omran’s mother sadly passed away in 2013, never having had the chance to find out what happened to her son.