QATIF — Forensic tests confirmed that the remains found in the Qatif governorate recently were not of a 14-year-old boy who went missing six years ago, said Lt. Col. Ziyad Al-Ruqaiti, spokesman for the Eastern Province police. Hussein disappeared six years ago while returning home with his friends from an outing on the beach in Qatif. The Border Guard had notified Hussein's family after a skull and bones were found in the area a few days ago. A report issued Monday by the forensic doctor who examined the skull and bones confirmed that they were not human remains. “The forensic results showed that the bones belonged to an animal,” said Al-Ruqaiti. Hussein's father, Ahmad Aal Saeed, told Al-Hayat newspaper that his family would never give up hope of finding their son. “We searched for him inside and outside the Kingdom but we could not find any information,” said Aal Saeed. Aal Saeed criticized the way some newspapers treated the news. The distraught father said he still kept frequenting the area where Hussein went missing hoping that he would stumble on a clue that could help resolve his son's mysterious disappearance. “I'll never accept the possibility that my son lost his way back home. How could a 14-year-old boy who knows his town well lose his way? I still have a hunch that my son is still alive. I just don't know where he is,” Aal Saeed said. Six years ago during a summer, Hussein went with his friends to play on the beach. While riding back home on their bicycles, they decided to race and Hussein was falling behind. When his friends took another look to see if he had caught up with them, Hussein had vanished and only his bicycle was found. There were a number of farms in the area where Hussein went missing. An exhaustive search was launched by Hussein's family and the police but to no avail. Few weeks after Hussein's disappearance, his family received information from unknown sources saying that Hussein had been smuggled outside the country and he was in Jordan. After a while, the same sources said he was in Yemen. Although his family had offered rewards for anyone who could provide information about his whereabouts, he remains missing to this day. — SG
