Featured Image Credit: Stirile ETV
Topics: World News, Life, True Life
Kya Buller
When cattle farmer Vasile Gorgos went on a regular business trip via train into east Romania in 1991, his family thought they had no reason to worry.
Travelling was a regular part of his routine - but when he failed to return that night, they raised the alarm.
They never could have imagined that he would be missing for 30 years, before eventually wandering back into the family home in 2021.
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His children were left having to wrestle with a heartbreaking fact - he couldn't remember who they were.
Despite this, it's said that he was able to remember his birthday, the fact his wife had passed away, and that he was the son of a successful merchant.
Vasile's family assumed foul play had occurred when the years of him being missing began to mount up, and they had to accept they'd likely never see him again.
Then, 30 years later, a car pulled up and dropped him outside the front door, before speeding away before anyone could note down the registration.
He was wearing the exact same clothes he was wearing on the day he vanished.
Vasile also had his ID in his pocket, as well as a a single train ticket valid for the Bacău-Ploieşti line from the day he disappeared.
His reappearance stunned not only his family but the local community too - as memorials had been held in his memory.
In February, the Sun reported that Vasile, who is now 93 years old, had undergone various medical checks that concluded he was in good overall health - despite some neurological problems.
Perhaps this could explain why he was unable to remember his children, a son and a daughter.
When probed by officials on his whereabouts for the past 30 years, Vasile simply stated he had been at 'home'.
At the time, his son told local press: "We don’t understand him. He doesn’t know what he’s saying.
"He talks to us about the period when he was involved in raising and selling cows. We ask him one thing, and he tells us another.
"Who knows where he has been, who kept him, maybe he was forced to work… who knows what kind of life he led?"
Various theories have been brought to the fore surrounding the mysterious disappearance and reemergence of Vasile - but none have been proven to be true, and likely never will.
Some social media sleuths have speculated he went to prison and didn't want to tell his family where he'd been.
While the Gone but Never Forgotten podcast suggested Vasile chose to 'ditch his life and his family' before 'wanting to make amends before he passed away'.