Doctor believed dead found in woods in Tuscany after 20 years

A doctor who was believed to be dead has been found after he was missing for almost 20 years, living in the woods in Tuscany.

A man was discovered living deep in a Tuscan forest after he was declared dead by the authorities. Image by Masterbutler / CC BY 2.0

Mushroom pickers came across Carlos Sanchez Ortiz de Salazar of Spain in the forest near the Tuscan coast, according to media reports. He was living in a tent and apparently had grown a large beard, according to the Local Italy.

He told the mushroom pickers that he had been living in the woods for years after disappearing from his home in 1996, reports the Telegraph.

The men came back with a forest ranger and Carlos told them he didn’t want to live with people and had to leave now that he had been discovered. He proved his story by showing them a passport with his name, of which the mushroom pickers took photographs. They contacted a missing person’s organisation, which tracked down his family.

However, his family joined a search party for the man and when his shelter was checked again, there was no trace of the man. While he had cans for water and a tarp, it’s currently unclear how he found food.