A man who police feared dead has been found alive after being missing for almost five years.

Police launched a murder investigation in November 2015 after Ricardas Puisys, who was 35 at the time, had not been seen for several weeks.

But on July 1, after years of work to find him, Ricardas was found alive in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.

Detective Chief Inspector Rob Hall said: ‘For almost five years Ricardas’ disappearance has been a complete mystery. That was until we received information at the end of June which led us to finding him.’

Officers were first alerted in late August 2015 when it was claimed Ricardas was being exploited and had moved house within Wisbech.

A police spokesperson said his last confirmed sighting was at work at Nightlayer Leek Company in Dean Drove, Chatteris, on September 26, 2015.

Later that same evening he was believed to be in the company of a small group of Lithuanian men, but from this moment he had vanished.

DCI Hall added: ‘There were genuine concerns Ricardas came to harm that evening. He did not return to work on Monday, 28 September, 2015 as expected, but we now believe Ricardas made the decision to run away as he had been a victim of crime, having previously been subject to exploitation.

‘A team of investigators worked tirelessly following up a number of inquiries, none leading to the discovery of Ricardas. That was until we received information that Ricardas may have been alive and still in the Wisbech area.

‘Following a search of wooded area in Harecroft Road, Ricardas was eventually found living in undergrowth, very well concealed after having deliberately hidden and having not spoken with anyone for some time.

‘We made the decision not to publicly announce we had found Ricardas alive until now in order to protect him and put safeguarding measures in place.

‘He is safe and we are working very closely with him to ensure he remains safe, but also to ensure he gets the support he needs after having lived through extremely difficult circumstances during the last five or more years.’

This is a breaking news story, more to follow.

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