Well of Hopelessness: How Algerian Omar Bin Omran Spent 27 Years in Neighbor's Captivity

Every year, tens of thousands of people disappear without a trace around the world. Some are found alive and well, others are dead. There are also those whose fate we will never know. Algerian Omar bin Omran was lucky - he spent 27 long years in the captivity of a psychopath, never seeing sunlight, but was able to miraculously escape. This story still has more questions than answers, and the criminal was never able to explain what motivated him.

In 1996, 17-year-old Omar bin Omran disappeared in the small Algerian town of Djelfa. The high school student went to school as usual in the morning, but never returned home. The disappearance of their son was a terrible blow to the family, but no one in the police was surprised. At that time, Algeria was in the midst of a bloody civil war, and disappearances had become commonplace.

The teenager could have been kidnapped by militants from an Islamist group to recruit him into their ranks, he could have died under fire, or he could have been wounded and lost his memory – there were many options. When the authorities failed to help, Omar’s family began searching on their own. His mother and cousins combed the city and its environs, risking their own lives more than once.

The family questioned local residents, contacted field commanders on both sides of the conflict, and placed advertisements on television and radio. But all their efforts were in vain. A year later, the family painfully resigned themselves to the idea that Omar bin Omran was most likely dead and stopped searching. The family decided to consider him dead, assuming that his body was buried in an unknown location.

No one could have imagined that Omar had remained in his native Djelfa all this time, not even leaving his street. He had spent 27 years just 200 meters from home. The missing man had been sitting in his neighbor's deep well for almost three decades. The bottom of the well was lined with straw, and a heavy lid covered it from above.

On that fateful day, a neighbor whom Omar knew well called out to him. What happened next between the man and the teenager remains unknown. The schoolboy was eventually lowered into a well almost 10 meters deep. The kidnapper regularly supplied him with water and food, preventing him from dying of hunger. Omar relieved himself in a bucket, which the neighbor raised up as it filled.

The man did not explain to Omar the reasons for his actions, only occasionally throwing out phrases on the matter, for example, asking about his health. Calling for help was useless - the sound did not penetrate beyond the well, and the massive lid reliably isolated the captive from the outside world. Several times a year, Omar was allowed to climb up, and once he was even able to see the light in the window of his home.

Another creature that knew about Omar's whereabouts was his dog. For months, it came to the neighbor's yard and sat at the gate, trying to attract attention. But fearing exposure, the man poisoned the animal. Most likely, Omar would have died in his terrible prison, if not for an accident. Not only the kidnapper himself knew about the secret of the well, but also his own brother.

In recent years, the kidnapper's behavior became increasingly strange, which led to frequent quarrels between the brothers. It even came to blows. And then the brothers received an inheritance and the elder refused to share. To teach him a lesson, the younger went to the police and told about the captive.

So, in May 2024, 44-year-old Omar was released. His 61-year-old kidnapper was arrested, and now the question of his sanity is being decided: whether to stand trial or go to a psychiatric clinic for treatment. Bin Omran himself, despite what he went through, is in relatively good physical condition - he is not exhausted, but suffers from serious psychological trauma. His cousin said in an interview:

Doctors suspect that the kidnapper had been mixing drugs or medications into the victim's food and drink for all these years. This helped suppress the will of the captive, who made no attempt to escape. The man himself claims that the villain cast a spell on him, clouding his mind. Omar's relatives are happy that he was found alive. Unfortunately, his mother did not live to see the joyful event - she died in 2013.

The story of Omar bin Omran is one of the amazing cases of survival in conditions of inhuman suffering. Why did no one suspect the neighbor of kidnapping, what really motivated the criminal, and can such a crime be forgiven? Share your opinion in the comments.