ONAIZAH: After a search of nearly six months, the body of a 40-year-old teacher from Onaizah who went missing when his car was swept away in torrential floods was pulled from a dry lake in Al-Rumma Valley here on Monday evening.
Ahmad bin Abdulaziz Al-Ruooji’s brothers identified the body. “I recognized him before calling Qassim Civil Defense to recover the body,” said Ahmad’s brother Abdullah Al-Ruooji.
A spokesman for Qassim Civil Defense confirmed that they had found a body near the area where the teacher was reported missing. He, however, declined to confirm whether it was Ahmad’s.
“Preliminary evidence suggests that it is that of the missing teacher but we have to wait until DNA tests prove that beyond doubt,” said Maj. Ibrahim Abalkhail, spokesman for Qassim Civil Defense.
Abalkhail said the body was found in a 1.5-meter-deep hole in the valley by Civil Defense officials and was taken to King Saud Hospital in Onaizah for routine analysis.
The body was discovered after a local citizen sensed an unpleasant smell coming from a place close to the area where Ahmad’s car was found last November, said Abalkhail. “The man called the Civil Defense, who took out the body on Monday night,” he added.
The Civil Defense had mobilized all efforts to look for Ahmad’s body after he was reported missing but in vain.
“We brought in a Greek expert who had invented a special device to detect human bones buried underground,” said Abalkhail, adding that the device had failed to produce any results when used in the same place where the body was found.
Ahmad was reported missing in early last November while driving across the high flowing Al-Rumma Valley. Friends who were accompanying him said he insisted on crossing the valley and ignored their warnings.
The friends disembarked from the car after failing to convince him. His car was swept away violently by a strong current and was seen turning over nine times before disappearing under water.
