Edgar Latulip, who went missing in 1986 in Kitchener, Ontario, was found about 80 miles away.
He was reportedly suffering from memory loss due to a serious head injury. At the time of his disappearance, he was 21 years old.
According to local reports, he had been in a group home for people with developmental disabilities, and he reportedly tried to commit suicide.
Officials initially believed Latulip might have jumped off a bus at either Niagara Falls or Lake Ontario.
Decades later, a DNA test revealed that Latulip was still alive and was residing in a couple of towns over from where he disappeared.
The police believe he suffered a serious head injury after leaving the facility in 1986.
After establishing a new identity, Latulip had no memory of the people who were looking for him.
In January of this year, he told a social worker that he had a memory of his old name. He then went to a local police station to have a DNA test.
Officials compared the sample taken from him to that of a family member.
The results of the DNA test confirmed that the sample was a match.
According to police, this is the only case they’ve come across where they have found a missing person who had been alive for a long time.
Latulip’s mother, Silvia Wilson, was reportedly overwhelmed by the news. She had initially thought that her son might have been murdered.
The family is planning on getting together. Ginerich said that one of the relatives expressed their happiness at being reunited.