Spanish doctor 'dead for 20 years' discovered alive in Italian forest

A Spanish doctor has reportedly been found living in an Italian forest, some 20 years after he went missing.

Carlos Sanchez Ortiz De Salazar, 47, was apparently discovered with a "dirty face and large beard" by two mushroom pickers in Tuscany, a fortnight ago.

He showed the foragers some identification and said: "I'm Spanish, my name is Carlos and I've been living here since 1997.

"I don't want to live among people: now that you have found me I need to get out of here."

The doctor left his home in Seville in 1995 during a bout of depression and moved to Italy to become a hermit, living in the hills and forests around Tuscany.

He was declared dead 14 years after falling off the grid.

His family attempted to find him a few days after the foragers encountered him, but he has vanished again, according to Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

Italian media says locals had reported seeing a "silent stranger" in the forest on various occasions over the last six years.