Spanish doctor declared dead in 2010 found alive and living

A Spanish doctor presumed dead has recently been found alive and living in Tuscany after disappearing 20 years ago.

Carlos Sanchez Ortiz De Salazar, a doctor from Sevilla was declared dead after abandoning civilisation in 1995, at the age of 26. Two mushroom pickers said they discovered his camp in the nature reserve of Cala Violina on the Maremma coast in northern Tuscany.

The former psychiatrist has lived in a tent since he disappeared. He told the two men: “I am Spanish, my name is Carlos and I have been here for twenty years,” and also showed them his passport. Carlos warned them that he would be leaving his hiding place since it had now been found, they said. 

The mushroom pickers alerted a Spanish missing person’s association and Carlos’ parents were traced after a month. His parents flew to Italy immediately in search of their son but discovered he had vanished again. 

In a tweet, his sister Olga said: “We respect his wishes and his freedom but we will not rest until we have re-embraced him even for just a moment. We just want to know that he’s OK.”

‘Thank you for giving us hope that has given some relief in the terrible tragedy that we have been living,” she added.