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cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/16021003

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/16021002

Vasile Gorgos was 63 years old when he left his home in eastern Romania to go on a short business trip.

As a cattle farmer and trader, Vasile often made such excursions and, this time, had bought his train ticket in advance.

The difference here was that on this fateful day in 1991, he didn’t return home.

Knowing that he was due to come back the same day, his family immediately called the police who launched a search effort.

But after days turned into weeks, then months, then years, with neither sight or sign of Vasile, his loved ones were forced to assume the worst.

With no leads or traces to follow, they suspected foul play, but endless questions were left unanswered.

But then, on 29 August, 2021, three decades after Vasile’s disappearance, his family was faced with the ultimate plot twist.

A car stopped in front of their home – the same one they’d had for the past 30 years – and out stepped an old man, looking confused.

That man was none other than 93-year-old Vasile, wearing the same clothes he left in all those years ago. His pocket even contained the same train ticket he was due to travel with.

The car allegedly raced off before anyone had a chance to question the driver, but when asked where he’d been, a baffled Vasile replied that he’d been “at home”, Medium reports.

He subsequently underwent a thorough medical examination but doctors concluded that he was in remarkably good health.

  • Barbarian@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    44·
    1 month ago

    This seems to be the earliest article about Vasile Gorgos, and it seems to be missing a lot of details from this retelling. I think this means that a lot of these details (wearing the same clothes, the same train ticket he left with, the mysterious car speeding off) were all added later.

    EDIT: In the video, they actually show the train ticket. It’s from 2021, from Ploesti to his home village, and his daughter-in-law says a friend of his picked him up from the train station after recognizing him. Also, unlike this version, he didn’t say he’d been at home, he said he wanted to go home. He does look and sound very visibly senile.

    Also, unlike this version, the original does not give him a clean bill of health. It specifically says he has neurological problems and can no longer recognize his son or his son’s wife.

    If you’ll allow a bit of speculation, my guess is the guy abandoned his family, went off and lived life, the police never really took the missing persons case seriously and never really looked for him. Decades later, he starts becoming senile. A befuddled old man, still with his unchanged ID card, gets picked up by a good samaritan who drops the old man home. gets a train ticket home and gets recognized at the train station.

  • QuadratureSurfer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    1 month ago

    Jail makes the most sense considering he returned with the same ticket in his pocket, but then again, since his family reported him missing you would have thought that they would have found out that he was in jail…

    • Frog@lemmy.caEnglish
      2·
      1 month ago

      That’s a good point. He went missing in 1991, before the internet boom though. Maybe he got lost in the system? Or maybe he got arrested in different country?

      I wonder what shape his clothes and the items he had were in. Were they dirty? Were they exactly how they were?

    • freebread@lemm.eeEnglish
      21·
      1 month ago

      Yeah also, how would he be able to wear the same clothes for 30 years? Not just because of the smell- I’m pretty good at taking care of my things but don’t think I could keep them intact for that long.

        • Ilovethebomb@lemm.eeEnglish
          1·
          1 month ago

          Yes. Do you really think a nation would incarcerate someone for decades, and not send their family a letter to let them know where they are?

          He was a missing person, remember. Surely this is something that would be checked?

  • Dorkyd68@lemmy.worldEnglish
    51·
    1 month ago

    I heard this story before. Was this recently? Cause I know I’ve seen this story before

  • Otherbarry@lemmy.zipEnglish
    2·
    1 month ago

    Wonder if he was ever really “missing” to begin with. Maybe the family was able to claim life insurance money, or there was some other reason he needed to disappear. Then after 30 years there was no point keeping it up so he was mysteriously found with no explanation.

  • Null User Object@programming.devEnglish
    21·
    1 month ago

    A car stopped in front of their home – the same one they’d had for the past 30 years

    So, he arrived in the car they’ve had since he disappeared…

    The car allegedly raced off before anyone had a chance to question the driver,

    … and then someone stole it???

    Edit: Ohhhh, it’s the same home they had when he disappeared. 🤦