Still searching after all this time: Saudi kidnapping case revived after 60 years

A Saudi man has revived an attempt he launched five years ago to find his sister who was kidnapped nearly 50 years ago when she was a child.

Fraij Al Rabei, in his 70s, said his sister was nearly nine years old when an unknown man on camel back snatched her while she was collecting wood for winter with her mother and sisters in their central town of Aflaj.

He said his sister was sighted in the western Saudi town of Makkah nearly five years ago, prompting him and relatives to launch a fresh search.

“But we could not find her. We still hope to find her although she was abducted nearly 60 years ago,” he told Sabq Arabic language daily, which he asked to publish an announcement about his missing sister.

Rabei said his sister was recognized five years ago because she had a burn sign on her forehead and that two of her toes are stuck together.