Man Thought To Be Dead Returns To Family After 28 Years

A 60-year-old man from India's Uttar Pradesh state long believed to be dead was reunited with his family Thursday — almost three decades after he disappeared.

The man, identified as Rohit, was employed as a home guard in the city of Mirzapur when he suffered an epileptic seizure and went missing 28 years ago, newspaper The Times of India reported, citing police assistant sub-inspector Rakesh Kumar.

Kumar, who works in the anti-human trafficking cell of police in Haryana state's Panchkula district, said Rohit had been living at a shelter in Ni Aasre Da Aasra in the village of Magharpur in Yamunanagar district since April 25. An official said that the elderly man had trouble recollecting information about himself.

Upon being interviewed, Rohit named a village, Vivjal, which Kumar used as a starting point for his investigation.

"I found his family in about a week. From Rohit's Vivjal village, we came to know his family shifted to Bhatta village in Prayagraj, [Uttar Pradesh] about 20 years ago. We contacted the family there, shared Rohit's photo and they identified him," Kumar was quoted as saying.

"The family said Rohit's son lives in Gurguan (now known as Gurugram.) Then we contacted him through a video call and he identified his father," the officer explained.

According to Kumar, Rohit's son, identified as Amarnath, and his grandson reached Magharpur village and took him back Thursday.

"We searched for him for many years. After losing hope, we thought that he is no more and also performed his [last rites,] and recorded him as dead in records," Amarnath was cited as saying.

"We received a video call from [Rakesh] and I identified my father in the same. I am extremely happy and cannot believe this. This is nothing less than a miracle for us," he explained.

Kumar said the paperwork regarding the incident had "been done" and that "some proceedings are ongoing."

It was unclear how Rohit moved from Uttar Pradesh to the neighboring state of Haryana.