Missing for 16 Years After Tsunami, Declared Dead, Found in Psychiatric Hospital: "It's Him"

Police officer Asep (left), who went missing during the 2004 tsunami, and a person recently found in a psychiatric hospital presumed to be Asep. / Photo by Instagram capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] A man presumed to be an Indonesian police officer who went missing during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami has been found in a psychiatric hospital after 16 years and 3 months, drawing public attention.

Local media reported on the 20th (local time) that a patient at a psychiatric hospital in Aceh Province on Sumatra Island, Indonesia, is believed to be the police officer who went missing during the tsunami.

Avril Asep, who worked as a police officer in Banda Aceh, Aceh Province, went out on duty when the tsunami struck on December 26, 2004, and never returned. Authorities listed Asep as missing, and his family presumed he had died, even holding a funeral several years ago.

The reason the person presumed to be Asep was admitted to the psychiatric hospital is said to be thanks to the help of residents of Pajar Village in Jaya District, Aceh Province. Five years after the tsunami in 2009, a young man with disheveled clothing and appearing mentally unstable was found in Pajar Village, and the village chief took pity on him and admitted him to a psychiatric hospital in Banda Aceh.

The psychiatric hospital, which had cared for the young man for decades, recently contacted Pajar Village asking, "Is it okay to send the young man back?" In response, the village chief visited the police station to find the young man’s family and guided investigators to the psychiatric hospital.

There, the police officers recognized that the young man was their colleague Asep. At that time, the young man still did not remember who he was, but when the police sang the Mobile Brigade Corps song, he stood at attention and hummed along. The young man also reportedly called another police officer "senior."

Later, Asep’s family visited the psychiatric hospital to meet the young man and conducted a DNA test. Although the results have not yet been released, the family expressed their emotion, saying, "Asep has a mole on his right ear and a scar on his forehead," and "It is definitely him. He has come back alive." However, the young man’s memory has not fully returned.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.