Police in Ireland are investigating the discovery of a developer believed to have been held hostage for eight months before being found wandering barefoot on a road.
Property tycoon Kevin Michael McGeever, originally from Swinford, Co Mayo, had been living in the neighbouring county Galway when he went missing last year before turning up one night this week.
The dishevelled 68-year-old was found shoeless, with a beard and long hair and finger nails, in a malnourished and dehydrated state on a country road near Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, on Tuesday. He has been treated in hospital in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, since being found.
Mr McGeever has been interviewed and has given a statement to gardai where he claimed that he was kidnapped at gunpoint.
A Garda spokesman confirmed officers in Gort, Co Galway, are investigating an alleged abduction in Co Galway last June while gardai in Ballinamore are probing the discovery of a man on a road earlier this week.
Gardai said there is no question that Mr McGeever was held for an extended period of months based on his appearance, but that there is no evidence at this stage to back up suggestions that a Russian gang may have been involved.
Local woman Catherine Vallely found Mr McGeever as she drove near the Cavan-Leitrim border on Tuesday and she said she almost mistook him for a traffic cone. He was carrying a torch and a mobile phone at the time.
It is also understood he has claimed that his kidnappers demanded a ransom but it is not known if anything was paid.
Mr McGeever was reported missing to local gardai in Gort on June 22. His partner Soibhan O'Callaghan had filed the report with her local station.
He made a fortune building houses, first in his native county and then further afield, before making big investments abroad including in Dubai. He fronted KMM Commercial Properties.
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